Casey Mize Suddenly Becomes Tigers' Most Valuable Trade Chip After Tarik Skubal Deal

The Detroit Tigers just made the biggest splash of the MLB trade deadline by sending their ace Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That blockbuster trade just opened the floodgates to an even stronger market now for another Detroit starter.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, Casey Mize should be “next”.

Casey Mize should be next up for Tigers. “Best rental,” left among starters says one rival GM. Great competitor. 2.70 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Braves, D-Backs, Cubs, Rays, Padres, Yankees among possible suitors
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 2, 2026

Heyman is exactly right; Mize is a great rental, and the Tigers are willing to talk. With Skubal off the board, Detroit can now maximize the value they get in return for a Mize trade, and that value likely just dramatically increased.

Mize Just Became Top Rental

There are plenty of contenders who still need a frontline starter. The Skubal trade solved one of them, but there are several left. This is where the Tigers’ opportunity for Mize just got bigger.

Several playoff contenders entered the deadline week searching for rotation help but Skubal was holding up the market to determine where he would eventually land. Now, that elite option is off the table, and Mize becomes even more attractive.

Unlike some of the other pitchers who may be on the market, Mize is a true rental. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season, playing on a one-year, $6.15 million contract. There are no long-term commitments here for contenders to have to manage.

Taking a quick look at Mize and he offers everything and more that contenders are looking for: performance, affordability and an expiring contract.

Mize Pitching Career Ball

Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If all of those positive bullet points aren’t enough, Mize isn’t a reclamation project. He has put everything together and is pitching some of the best baseball of his career.

Through 16 starts this season, Mize owns a 2.70 ERA and can boast of a 0.99 WHIP all while he has struck out 85 batters over 86.2 innings of work. He is holding opponents to .213 batting average and has delivered eight quality starts. What more could a contender want?

Mize is performing consistently and at a high level. He is everything the Tigers envisioned he would be when they selected him in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Tigers Capitalizing on Market

Actually pulling the trigger and trading Skubal sent a message that Detroit is thinking beyond the 2026 season. The team entered Saturday with a 53-58 record, which puts them 5.5 games back of the first-place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.

As the Tigers showed us last year, anything can happen in the second half, and certainly they are not mathematically removed from the race. The trade move, though, indicates Detroit is prioritizing the future over the postseason push.

Keeping Mize past the deadline would only provide a minimal boost to the playoff chances for the Tigers. Trading him now, though, could net a high-value package of prospects or at least young major league talent that could enhance the future.

Once the Skubal deal was announced, Mize skyrocketed in importance around the baseball world. Rival executives have to believe that he is likely the best rental on the market, and now it becomes the Tigers' responsibility to capitalize on everything the market is willing to give.

Add us as a preferred source on Google