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The New York Yankees have been seen as a top candidate to land ace Tarik Skubal at the upcoming MLB trade deadline, and the odds of the Cy Young winner hitting the trade block could be increasing.
Skubal is seen as the top potential prize at this year’s deadline, with several contending teams expected to show interest in the Detroit Tigers ace. While ESPN’s Kiley McDaniels and Jeff Passan predicted the Tigers would ultimately pass on trading their star player, Skubal may be pressing the issue.
Tarik Skubal Issues Warning to Tigers
Skubal expressed a bit of impatience with the Tigers this week, telling reporter Chris McCosky of the Detroit News that the team needs to turn things around quickly or else consider making some big moves at the upcoming deadline. While Skubal didn’t expressly ask for a trade, his statement appears to put some intentional pressure on the team.
“The reality is we need to play better baseball or else, come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is,” Skubal said. “And if they don’t think what we have is a World Series- or playoff-caliber team, then the whole team is going to look different. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
The Tigers are in the bottom of the AL Central, sitting 8.5 games back of the division-leading Chicago White Sox at 31-44. The team does have some hope as Skubal returned from the injured list after undergoing elbow surgery, but the team may need to rapidly improve to avoid being sellers at the trade deadline.
Skubal said he’s not worrying too much about whether he could land on the trade block.
“I don’t think about it a lot,” Skubal said. “I try not to let that consume me because I need to worry about what I’m doing today. … But there’s also the reality part to it. Everybody, the whole room, needs to focus on winning tonight’s game, winning a series, winning the next series and just let it snowball.”
The Yankees are expected to add more pieces at the trade deadline, shoring up their World Series hopes. Their 46 wins are the best in the American League, putting them three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Yankees Among Contenders for Skubal
ESPN’s McDaniel and Passan noted that several contending teams could be in the running for Skubal, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. They gave him an 85% chance of being traded, noting that the team would likely net a huge return for Skubal.
“Considering the hole they’ve dug themselves, they are far more likely than not to move Skubal — beyond their six-game deficit for the final wild card, they are behind six other teams — and they will squeeze every ounce of value out of the best pitcher in the world,” the ESPN report noted. He is the dream deadline candidate, the sort of ace who can carry a team in the postseason. Whoever lands Skubal will pay an enormous price. Happily.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty