All through the month of July, Tarik Skubal’s identify ceaselessly surfaced in stories of groups eyeing rotation upgrades. He was extensively thought of to be a long-shot commerce candidate, at finest — we listed him fiftieth on our Prime 50 commerce candidate listing, noting his unequalled capacity to affect a brand new membership but additionally the Tigers’ unwillingness to maneuver him — nevertheless it appeared as if groups may nonetheless attempt to blow the Tigers out of the water because the deadline drew nearer.
Maybe different golf equipment certainly hoped to have the ability to accomplish that, however Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris made clear in his post-deadline feedback that Skubal was by no means on the cusp of shifting. At a press convention to debate the trades of Jack Flaherty, Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin and Carson Kelly, Harris was requested how shut he got here to buying and selling Skubal, the presumptive Cy Younger front-runner within the American League.
“Not shut,” Harris mentioned with out hesitation (video hyperlink by way of WXYZ Detroit sports activities director Brad Galli). “There have been a whole lot of rumors that floated on the market. There are a whole lot of ’unconfirmed stories’ which can be simply completely inaccurate. We by no means got here near buying and selling Skubal.”
Harris declined to touch upon whether or not there was ever any temptation or a proposal that made him take into account the likelihood. Nevertheless, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Occasions stories that the Dodgers, who naturally had sturdy curiosity in Skubal, got here away with the impression that the left-hander wasn’t accessible “in any situation,” writing that one supply indicated Detroit “wouldn’t speak about Skubal in any respect.”
On the one hand, it’s simple to shrug feedback and stories alongside these strains off as irrelevant. What’s accomplished is finished, and Skubal is a Tiger. Nothing will change that in the meanwhile. Alternatively, it additionally provides a possible glimpse into the offseason and the longer term. Had the Tigers been legitimately entertaining Skubal provides however merely not discovered a proposal to their liking, he’d stand as a logical offseason commerce candidate. However with Detroit’s ostensible refusal to even interact in discussions on him, it turns into all of the tougher to examine a situation the place Skubal is genuinely accessible this winter. If the Tigers wouldn’t even focus on him in July, when the return would theoretically be even larger, there’s little cause to assume they’d give sturdy consideration to buying and selling him a couple of months from now.
Requested whether or not the choice to hold onto Skubal, who’s solely managed for 2 further seasons, was an indicator that Detroit can be aggressive in its offseason free agent and commerce pursuits, Harris sidestepped and mentioned his focus for now could be the ultimate two months of the season.
“It’s July proper now,” mentioned Harris. “We’ve bought a whole lot of work to do that yr. … We’ve got a whole lot of younger gamers within the massive leagues who have to get a complete lot higher. I believe you guys are seeing some flashes of it. I believe whenever you see a few of these gamers, what they regarded like in April and now what they seem like in July, it’s an excellent instance of what we may be as a corporation. However we are able to’t simply begin trying into the winter proper now. We’ve got a whole lot of work to do in August and September to verify the gamers on this and the gamers which can be going to affect this crew within the second half are arising and getting higher. That’s the place our focus is correct now.”
