MLB Trade Rumors: Why Angels are waiting on Tarik Skubal before moving Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano

Landing Tarik Skubal will give some team a phenomenal chance of winning games 1, 4, and 7 of any playoff series. If there is one guy to land who is capable of carrying your team through October this season, it is the reigning back to back AL Cy Young Award winner.

It will take a bevy of highly touted prospects to acquire the flamethrowing lefty; the type of prospects available from farm systems such as the Brewers, Rays, or Dodgers. All three of those organizations have eyes on a World Series championship and all would love to land Skubal. And each is a logical landing spot for Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano.

The Tarik Skubal Bottleneck: Why the MLB Trade Market is Frozen

Detroit entered this season hoping to bring home a title before Skubal hit free agency. Unfortunately for Skubal and the Tigers, Tarik was injured for the first half of the season and the Tigers are on the outside fringes of playoff contention.

Still, Detroit has rallied from deep in the standings to reach October as recently as 2024 and they know what they have in Skubal. So the asking price for thier prize pitcher is astronomically high.

As a result, teams are wanting to hold onto their full arsenal of trade chips until they know if they land Skubal or not.

Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano the Premium Pivotal Starting Pitcher Alternatives

The teams that miss out on Skubal will pivot to another lefty with big strikeout numbers in Reid Detmers. Angels GM John Mozeliak's phone will need to be fully charged at the time Skubal is traded as the teams that lose out on him look for the second best option on the market.

Although Jose Soriano's raw stuff and flashes of brilliance early in the season could lead a team to value him as option #2 in this market. It is easy to see Soriano when he is having a good day and imagining what he could be with a little more consistency.

An acquiring team can feel confident handing either one the ball to start a playoff game. And they get them for two years beyond this one. If a team is playing the long game, Detmers and Soriano will likely deliver more value.

Is it Better if the Dodgers Acquire Skubal?

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Perhaps the last thing the baseball world needs is the most stacked team in baseball landing yet another MVP caliber player. At some point the Dodgers will have more future Hall of Famers than not on their roster.

If they land Skubal, that would leave Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and both Chicago teams on the hunt for starting pitching. Having never won a World Series, there seems to be a particular sense of urgency to cash in on their young talent. Milwaukee has the best farm system in baseball but Tampa Bay and the two Chi town clubs have talent the Angels could use.

However, if a surprise entrant pulls of a Skubal trade that leaves the Dodgers really desperate for rotation help and with a potential playoff series facing Skubal. Their sense of urgency plus their farm system could equal really good things for the Angels.

Angels on SI previously posted possible trade packages from LA for Detmers and for Soriano and they both improve the farm immensely. But would either trade happen?

While there is a lot of talk that Arte Moreno is stepping back and letting Mozeliak do his job, I have a hard time seeing Moreno being happy about helping the Dodgers win a World Series for a third straight year. Nor about facing Detmers or Soriano for the next two season. Moreno apparently has not meddled into front office affairs for months, but he might nix an I-5 trade of this magnitude.

Best Case Scenario for the Angels?

Until we know if Moreno is truly granting John Mozeliak authority, there are two possible answers to that question.

If Mozeliak is autonomous, it would be best for the Cubs to land Skubal. That would have them aiming for Milwaukee's lead in the NL Central and give the Dodgers a high profile, big market rival to potentially face in the playoffs.

Milwaukee and LA have such loaded farm systems it would be ideal to have them competing for the Angels pitcher of their choosing. Ideally the Angels would trade one starter to each and gorge on those two farm systems. It would be an ideal way to add significant talent to the farm.

But if Arte is not truly backing away, it is best for the Angels if the Dodgers land Skubal. After all, their bounty of talent was never heading the Angels way. Yes, it will make the Dodgers prohibitive favorites to win yet another title, but it will keep Milwaukee's farm system in the trade market. Both Chicago clubs have prospects who would vault to the top of the Angels prospect lists as well.

What this all means?

There could be a record amount of really late traffic on Monday. The deadline is at 3 P.M. on the West Coast. Skubal appears to have thrown his last pitch as a Tiger. Detmers is not scheduled to pitch until Tuesday.

It will be interesting to see if Jose Soriano starts tonight in Anaheim. If he does he will be on a pitch limit.

This trade deadline, thanks to the presence of Skubal, could drag out until Monday afternoon then end with a plethora of deals just under the wire.

Add us as a preferred source on Google