Tigers Wild Rumor of Pending Tarik Skubal Dodgers Trade Shut Down by Insider

The Detroit Tigers may not be nearing an agreement to trade away Tarik Skubal to the defending World Series champions after all.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal high-fives teammates in the dugout after a pitching change during the seventh inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason and really specifically this week at the winter meetings as one of the main topics of conversation across baseball due to the potential impending trade of their ace.

While reports have been conflicted before the meetings and discussions were still apparently being held, the prevailing belief was Skubal would not be traded. For a minute in Orlando this week though, that began to change.

KTLA TV sports anchor David Pingalore lit X ablaze in a wild tweet which claimed a deal between Detroit and the Los Angeles Dodgers was already done and simply had to clear final hurdles in a tweet which now has over four million views. Pingalore is followed on X by Scott Boras, which led to some wild theories being thrown around.

While clearing some things up though, well known insider and common breaker of news Robert Murray of FanSided completely shut the Skubal rumor down in an episode of The Baseball Insiders podcast.

Tigers and Dodgers Not Nearing Skubal Deal, Murray Says

Mar 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

"You never know, they could be talking, but as far as the trade being close being close or done, no," Murray declared. [How is] this a thing? I'm putting it to bed now, that's not real, we need to as a Twitterverse get better with trying to figure out who's delivering our news. That's crazy to me, I don't know how that's a thing but it's not a thing whatsoever."

With reports that are essentially opposite of each other, reality could be somewhere in the middle, but Murray is among the most plugged in insiders in baseball, and if he is completely shutting something down, it's hard to believe it's actually occurring.

As the winter meetings start to wind down to a close here at the end of the week, it's not impossible for something to develop late or even after, however it would be a surprise at this point.

Can Tigers Fans Feel Comfortable That Skubal is Staying?

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal celebrates striking out Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh I the sixth inning of ALDS Game 5 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Understandably, there is a section of the fanbase who has seen the strategy of this front office so far in the offseason and as a result wants Skubal traded since they are not going all in for 2026 anyway.

An extension is off the table and Skubal is likely gone a year from now anyway. For those who want to see Detroit run it back with the repeat American League Cy Young for another year though, it's likely getting to a point where they can feel pretty confident he returns.

The Tigers have not gotten an offer they deem worthy of sending away the face of their franchise, and while Scott Harris has essentially refused to give an answer one way or the other, he would not give away Skubal for pennies on the dollar.

Clearly, Detroit would be comfortable holding onto Skubal and giving it another go this season, and it seems like that is now the most likely outcome. It's of course still worth keeping an eye on as the offseason starts to slow down, but with each passing day, keeping the southpaw becomes more likely.