Blockbuster Mock Trade Sends Tarik Skubal To Mariners In 3-For-1 Deal

The Seattle Mariners need to make some big moves in the offseason if they want to get back to the American League Championship Series.

They're set to lose a few key players in free agency including Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez. They're going to need to re-sign or replace these stars. The Mariners could also make some big trades in the coming months.

Adam Jude of the Seattle Times recently put together a blockbuster mock trade that would send Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal to the Mariners in exchange for pitcher Logan Evans, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, and shortstop Felnin Celesten.

Mariners could be a landing spot for Tigers ace Tarik Skubal

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skuba — Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal talks to catcher Dillion Dingler after throwing the fourth inning against Mariners at ALDS Game 5 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"The Mariners, to be sure, would balk at this acquisition cost. All three players going to Detroit, in this exercise, are or have been ranked among the Top 100 prospects in the sport. For comparison, the Milwaukee Brewers got back only one Top 100 prospect (infielder Joey Ortiz, plus a reliever and a competitive-balance round draft pick) for ace Corbin Burnes going into 2024, a year before he hit free agency.

"Evans pitched well for the Mariners this year as a 24-year-old in his first MLB season. Celesten is a 20-year-old switch-hitting shortstop with as much upside as just about anyone in the M’s system; and Cijntje, the switch-pitcher drafted in the first round in 2024, would be a painful prospect for the M’s to part with. And perhaps it is excessive for what would surely be only one year of any pitcher’s services. But this is Tarik Skubal … in his prime … and in his final season at a price point the Mariners could afford (he’s projected to earn about $18 million in his final year of arbitration)."

Acquiring Skubal at this stage of his career would likely cost the Mariners another top prospect or two. There's a chance they'd need to throw in somebody like Luis Castillo to get this deal to go through.

But if there's any realistic world in which the Mariners can bring Skubal to town, they need to take the shot. They could even step outside of their comfort zone and attempt to re-sign him on a massive contract before he hits free agency.

It's unlikely at this point, but the Mariners shouldn't be counted out if Skubal is on the trade block.

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