How the Brewers Could've Prevented the Dodgers From Acquiring Tarik Skubal

Two days before Monday’s trade deadline, Los Angeles and Detroit agreed to the blockbuster deal that’s got much of baseball world up in arms. Many fans felt that teams with loaded farm systems, such as the Brewers and Rays, should’ve done more to acquire Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline to prevent him from joining the Dodgers, who were already favorites to three-peat as World Series champions and are now overwhelmingly so.

Milwaukee has taken some heat for not pushing harder to acquire Skubal, in what was ultimately a rather passive deadline for the Brew Crew. However, reports have since emerged that indicate the Brewers did in fact make a rather competitive proposal to the Tigers, one which was arguably higher in value than the Dodgers’ deal that was ultimately accepted.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported the details of the trade offer, which included two of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects, including No. 18 Luis Peña, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect.

“Milwaukee’s initial proposal was also three prospects, according to sources. All three were hitters, and at least two were Top 100 prospects,” wrote McCalvy on Tuesday. “One of them was shortstop Luis Peña, who is No. 18 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. The Brewers’ other position player prospects in MLB Pipeline’s version of the Top 100 are Jesús Made (who is No. 1 overall and was off limits), outfielder Luis Lara (who is No. 64 and probably wasn’t in play after the Brewers committed to him via a seven-year contract extension in June), infielder Jett Williams (No. 76) and outfielder Josh Adamczewski (No. 87). Different sources believed the third hitter was either on one version of a Top 100 list as well, or just outside,”

So, while the precise details of the proposed trade are not entirely clear, it’s believed to have involved Peña and likely one of Williams or Adamczewski, as well as another highly regarded position player. That’s a pretty talented haul of prospects, which would’ve significantly improved the Tigers’ farm system. Yet, Detroit opted to go with the Dodgers’ proposal of outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith, likely because they made clear they were looking for a controllable MLB pitcher in any Skubal trade. Whether Ryan qualifies as being a controllable MLB pitcher is certainly up for debate, especially considering the Brewers have a pair of arms that better fit that bill.

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Sproat — Brewers pitcher Brandon Sproat could have been the piece that pushed a deal for Skubal over the top. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Brewers were never going to include Logan Henderson in any potential Skubal trade, and rightfully so considering his excellent 10-game start to his major league career. But they could’ve still managed to outbid the Dodgers by including one of Brandon Sproat or Shane Drohan, two other highly regarded rookie starting pitchers, in their proposal. Alongside Peña and the aforementioned hitting prospect who was near the top 100, either one of those pitchers would (or at least should) have been enough to sway the Tigers’ hand.

Here’s what the hypothetical trade offer would look like:

Brewers receive: LHP Tarik Skubal
Tigers receive: INF Luis Peña and LHP Shane Drohan OR RHP Brandon Sproat, and mystery hitting prospect

Peña would be the headliner of the Brewers’ package. He’s two years younger than Hope and a slightly higher ranked prospect. Peña is No. 18 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, seven spots ahead of Hope at No. 25. The 19-year-old has a .843 OPS across two minor-league levels this season with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Peña is a great hitter with elite speed, though he has some work to do defensively if he wants to play shortstop in the bigs and could end up at second or third base. With Kevin McGonigle locked in as Detroit’s shortstop of the future, that shouldn’t have been an issue.

Sproat, 25, was one of the key pieces of Milwaukee’s return in the offseason trade that sent Freddy Peralta to the Mets. He’s made 25 career appearances in MLB and has a 5.18 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 116 1/3 innings. Sproat hasn’t had much success at the top level thus far into his career, largely due to his struggles with command and high walk numbers, but he boasts a quality four-pitch mix and has a fastball that reaches in the upper-90s. He’s also more than two years younger than Ryan, who turns 28 on Aug. 17 and hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2024.

Drohan would’ve been another potential arm the Brewers could’ve offered the Tigers in a Skubal trade. A few months younger than Ryan, Drohan made his MLB debut this season and has impressed in a mixed role, bouncing between the bullpen and the starting rotation. The 27-year-old southpaw owns a 3.48 ERA with 89 strikeouts against 24 walks in 88 innings. He’s a bit older than Sproat and has found more success at the MLB level early on.

The Tigers would’ve landed themselves an MLB-ready pitcher that comes with six years of control, alongside one of the game’s top infield prospects and perhaps another piece. They’re likely content with the package they received from the Dodgers, but may have misplayed their hand by agreeing to a deal with more than 36 hours to go until the trade deadline, when they potentially could’ve gotten an improved offer closer to the buzzer.

In the end, the Brewers made a legitimate and competitive push to land Skubal, and had they been able to spend a bit more time negotiating with the Tigers, they could’ve potentially gotten a deal done that would’ve sent the back-to-back Cy Young winner to Milwaukee. Instead, Skubal will be pitching for the star-studded Dodgers as they aim to win their third consecutive World Series title.

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