Brewers Unpack Tarik Skubal Pursuit, Why Blockbuster Didn't Happen

As the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline approached, there was no bigger name connected to the Milwaukee Brewers than two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Milwaukee had interest in the lefty. At the time, that was clear. Milwaukee's rotation wasn't as solid then as it is right now and with one of the top farm systems in the game, the idea of a deal actually was realistic. But the two sides didn't come to terms. Skubal ended up going to the Los Angeles Dodgers and was knocked out of the playoffs by Milwaukee. In August, it was reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan that Milwaukee wouldn't put Jesus Made, Logan Henderson, Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara on the table. Milwaukee ended up getting Dustin May instead and now the Brewers are four wins away from the title.

On Tuesday, Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post shared a new episode of The Show: A NY Post podcast, which featured an interview with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who discussed the pursuit of Skubal.

The Brewers Got It Right

Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws during the third inning of game one of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"This team was built, not bought," Attanasio said. "It's critical to look at how we got here and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being careful about how many prospects we gave up. I asked Matt Arnold, 'Can we add anything to this package?' Detroit gave us a best and final and I think I might've said, 'Are you sure, Matt?' I think best and final wasn't best and final. Wasn't like they were gaming teams. I thought a lot about it. If we had not won that Game 4, we would've seen Skubal and [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] again and we could've been looking at Game 7."

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio talks here about what went down in Skubal trade talks, why Crew came up short (“This team was built, not bought”) and how worried he was during NLCS

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— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 20, 2026

Around the deadline, the idea of keeping Henderson over flipping him in a package for Skubal was specifically talked about as a sticking point. Attanasio added some more fuel to that idea.

"Henderson was mentioned as one of the guys. ... I think it fell down more over the pitching."

While Skubal donning a Brewers uniform would've been nice, Henderson finished the regular season with a 2.47 ERA in 18 starts and he has a 3.00 ERA in the playoffs so far in two starts. In Game 2 of the NLCS against the Dodgers, Henderson outpitched Yamamoto as Milwaukee took a commanding two-game lead.

Henderson is just 24 years old and is under team control through the 2031 season. Plus, they didn't have to give away a massive package. At the time, it was reported that No. 2 prospect Luis Pena, plus two other elite prospects were involved.

Skubal is a great player. He would've helped. But the Brewers got to the World Series without him, and kept their top prospects. This is a team that is going to contend for years to come. They made the right call.

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