Tarik Skubal Trade Grades: How Tigers, Dodgers Did in Deal for Cy Young Winner

Tarik Skubal has finally been traded and the destination will shock no one.

The Dodgers have acquired the two-time Cy Young winner and shipped three prospects to the Tigers to make the deal happen.

Skubal is going to L.A., while outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith are headed to Detroit. The Dodgers were able to dig deep into their loaded farm system to land the biggest fish on the trade market and strengthen their loaded roster as they pursue a third consecutive World Series title. Skubal will be a pure rental as he's set for free agency after the season.

Let’s get out the red pen and hand out some grades.

Dodgers

The Dodgers landed an ace they definitely didn’t need, but will really enjoy having. They’re adding the top starter on the market while also having Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani on their roster. But Snell and Glasnow have combined to make eight starts this season, and Ohtani is currently out of the rotation. What looked like a major strength entering the season has suddenly become a weak spot.

In steps Skubal, who has been the undisputed best pitcher in baseball since the middle of 2023. After undergoing flexor tendon surgery on his pitching elbow in 2022, he returned on July 4, 2024, and has been dominant. Since his return, Skubal has gone 45–18 with a 2.46 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, and 687 strikeouts against 96 walks in 564 1/3 innings. He has won back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards and has been virtually unhittable.

Skubal missed the entire month of May after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. Despite that brief hiatus, he has again been phenomenal. In 16 starts, the 29-year-old is 7–5 with a 2.79 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, and 116 strikeouts against 14 walks in 96 2/3 innings. In July, he has a 2.03 ERA and has looked better than after his return in June.

The Dodgers paid a steep price to get Skubal, but given the incredible depth of their farm system, it’s a gamble worth taking. In addtion to that, he’s a Southern California native and the franchise will get a chance to establish a connection to him before he hits free agency after the season. It’s an absolute win-win, even if the cost was high.

Grade: A-

Tigers

Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope — Zyhir Hope is the highest-ranked prospect being sent to the Tigers for Skubal. | Brandon Sloter/Getty Images

The Tigers had to make this deal, but only because they didn’t make things with Skubal work long-term. They landed a big package in exchange, but didn’t get maximum value, and only had to do this because they wouldn’t meet his price for an extension.

Zyhir Hope is the cornerstone of this deal. A long-time top prospect, he has plus tools across the board and will likely stick in center field, increasing his value. He was No. 37 on our preseason list of MLB's top prospects. The lefty hitter makes good swing decisions, though struggles with balls at the top of the zone. Still, he has good raw power, excellent speed and a big arm. As a 21-year-old at Double A this season, he’s slashing .293/.369/.530 with 23 home runs, 17 doubles, 87 RBIs and a 130 wRC+. He does strike out a bit too much right now, but should be a no-doubt starter at the big league level by 2028, if not earlier, and has All-Star upside.

River Ryan already has big league experience after debuting for the Dodgers in 2024 when he went 1–0 with a 1.33 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 20 1/3 innings over four starts. He blew out his elbow and has undergone a long rehab process, but is currently in Triple A en route to a comeback. Ryan features four pitches that flash plus, with a fastball that can reach triple digits, a hard slider, a good curveball and a cutter that misses bats. Despite being 27, he still carries the upside of a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. He will likely enter the Tigers' rotation as soon as he's ready to handle the innings.

Brady Smith is a bit of a lottery ticket in this deal. He was a third-round pick out of the Tennessee prep ranks in 2023 but immediately underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2024 campaign. The 21-year-old has been slow in making a comeback, but has big upside as a 6'2" starter who works downhill, owns a mid-90s fastball and features a plus changeup to go along with a good slider and a curve. At two levels of A ball this season he’s 0–7 with a 4.36 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 113 strikeouts against 30 walks in 74 1/3 innings. The key here is that he’s made 21 starts and is working himself back to health while maintaining a sky-high strikeout rate.

The Tigers got a solid return, but they failed to land Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota or Eduardo Quintero, who are L.A.’s top outfield prospects. It’s also worth noting that they didn’t need to be here. Detroit severely lowballed him during discussions about a long-term extension. And this offseason, it only offered him $19 million in arbitration, which was, frankly, insulting. In the end, Skubal won his arbitration case for a record $32 million. There was no coming back. They should have traded him at that point instead of waiting for the deadline and taking a smaller return.

The franchise put itself in this position by not locking up its star player and accepted a package that is below his market value.

Grade: B-

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