Tigers Would Be Insane to Accept This Wild Tarik Skubal Trade Idea from Cubs
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The Detroit Tigers have dealt with trade noise all offseason long with regards to their superstar ace Tarik Skubal, but to this point they have fended off all offers and demanded more than teams are willing to give up.
In particular who Detroit has scared away was the New York Yankees and New York Mets, each of whom balked when the Tigers requested a massive haul of prospects and active big leaguers in return.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have also been linked heavily, but ultimately it seems like they are going to pass and look to chase a third straight title without the repeat American League Cy Young.
If Skubal were to be traded, perhaps another team with a deep farm who has not been linked a ton in the Chicago Cubs. This week, a hypothetical trade from Christopher Kline of FanSided has been making its way across the web, but Detroit would be insane to accept it.
Tigers Offered Four Cubs Prospects in Trade Hypothetical
In Kline's proposal, Detroit lands four top-ten Chicago prospects in RHP Jaxon Wiggins, OF Kevin Alcántara, 1B Jonathon Long, and RHP Brandon Birdsell, seemingly a huge haul on the surface but one to which should give the Tigers pause.
"Detroit needs to come to terms with this whole Skubal debacle, but this is godfather trade territory, especially for an expiring contract," Kline wrote. "So the Tigers probably say yes, unless another team really goes above and beyond to blow Chicago out of the water. It's a bit tougher to determine if Chicago is willing to go this far, though."
Wiggins may be a future ace, but Birdsell just dealt with season-ending elbow surgery while Alcántara has not taken the next step following a full season in Triple-A. Long is intriguing, but has come a little bit out of nowhere and would be trying to crack an already crowded infield for Detroit.
If this is the best Chicago can do, Scott Harris should say thanks but no thanks.
Tigers Should Demand Current MLB Talent on Top of Wiggins
Detroit is not in a spot where they have to trade Skubal by any means, so they are well within their rights to demand a massive return from anyone who comes calling. While on the surface Kline's proposal does look like that, there are red flags when looking a bit deeper.
Now, if the Cubs were willing to throw in some of their current young MLB talent such as either standout rookie third baseman Matt Shaw or even National League Rookie of the Year runner up Cade Horton, then the Tigers perhaps would have their eyebrows raised more.
Prospects are never a sure thing, but Skubal coming out and having a great 2026 if he's healthy is, and if Detroit is essentially going to punt on the season without their ace, they need to receive a jaw-dropping haul.
This proposal is not that, and unless Chicago was willing to swap a prospect for a current contributor, the Tigers would be foolish to accept it.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.