Brewers Named Unlikely Fit for Tarik Skubal if One Change Occurs

Could the Brewers actually do it?

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) walks off the field for pitching change during the seventh inning against Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers are once again the cream of the crop in the National League Central. At 37-23, they have the third best record in the National League and are looking to return to the postseason for a deeper run after being swept in the NLCS last fall by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the trade deadline coming up, it will be interesting to see how the Brewers operate. They typically don't take big swings at the deadline, or even in the offseason. However, Jeff Passan of ESPN predicts that their best fit at the deadline will be none other than back-to-back American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, but on one condition.

"Just think about it. Tarik Skubal in Game 1, Jacob Misiorowski in Game 2, Kyle Harrison in Game 3," Passan wrote.

"It's not the move a disciplined team makes, but then this same team got dog-walked by the Dodgers in the NLCS last year, and it's not so myopic that it ignores what Misiorowski and Harrison are doing. The Brewers have the best farm system in baseball. Their minor league infield talent alone -- the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, Jesús Made, along with Luis Peña, Andrew Fischer, Cooper Pratt, Jett Williams, Luke Adams, Blake Burke and Brady Ebel -- is better than perhaps half of the entire systems in the game. They can do this. For once, they just need to not be themselves."

Can Brewers Pull it Off?

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) takes the field for first inning against Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers have fallen to last place in the AL Central, so it makes sense that they would be expected to sell at the trade deadline. However, the Brewers might be an unlikely fit.

Still, they have the prospects to get it done, but they'll have to decide if it's worth it to deal a haul of prospects just for a few months of Skubal, who will hit the free agent market at the end of the year.

But having him in an already powerful starting rotation would be a major plus for Milwaukee as they try to bounce back from their NLCS loss. That would give them the best rotation in all of Major League Baseball and make them a serious threat to win their first ever World Series title.

It might be unlikely, but it certainly will be fun for Brewers fans to think about. We'll see if they actually decide to do it.