Rays Send Haul of Prospects for Tarik Skubal in Hypothetical Trade Proposal

The Tampa Bay Rays were able to get back on track Monday night in a 3-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox. As the team starts to eye the summer, making improvements will be a need for the franchise.

It has been a tough stretch of late for the Rays, who have not played their best baseball over the last two weeks. This is a team that is still in first place in the American League East with the best record in the AL, but they have seen that lead shrink of late.

Now, even though the team has hit a rough patch, they should be thinking about being aggressive before the trade deadline to improve this roster. The AL is clearly wide open, and the Rays should be looking to take advantage of that.

Despite the team performing well overall, there are areas of need. The lineup could certainly use another bat to help increase offensive production. Furthermore, while the starting rotation has been strong overall, they have some concerns now as well. With that being said, making a big splash could make a lot of sense for the Rays.

David Schoenfield of ESPN recently proposed a hypothetical trade for the Rays to acquire Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

Tigers Get: Santiago Suarez, Brody Hopkins, and Michael Forret

Rays Get: Tarik Skubal

Montgomery Biscuit’s Brody Hopkins throwing the ball — Montgomery Biscuit’s Brody Hopkins | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This hypothetical proposal is a very pitcher-heavy one with Tampa Bay sending three pitching prospects to the Tigers for Skubal. As the two-time AL Cy Young continues to work his way back from injury, he is going to be arguably the biggest name mentioned in the coming weeks.

Due to the struggles of Detroit and Skubal being an impending free agent at the end of the year, the team will have to do their due diligence and can’t simply let a player of that caliber leave for nothing in free agency if they aren’t going to be a contender this year. This appears to be a solid hypothetical offer from the Rays, with all three being top 10 prospects for Tampa Bay.

If the Rays were able to acquire Skubal, the trio of him, Shane McClanahan, and Drew Rasmussen would be one of the best in the league, and they could match up with the New York Yankees in a potential playoff series.

Overall, Tampa Bay should certainly pursue the star left-hander with the team having a real chance to accomplish something special this year.

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