This article will be a little different this week, as it will be split into 2 parts, because there is no way on God’s green earth I can write about the Skubal trade.
If the Tigers Were Going to Trade Tarik Skubal, Why Not Wait?
The moment the announcement was made, one question echoed around baseball:
Why now?
Yes, last week I predicted a decision about his future with Detroit would be determined by last Friday. Any fan of the game would tell you we saw this coming months ago. He was going to leave. Approaching free agency, coming off another Cy Young-caliber season, the writing was on the wall.
Never did I think the actual trade was going to happen days before the deadline. That’s an eternity in baseball.
So? Why now?
Scott Harris insists the answer is as simple as every serious bidder had their best offer on the table and the Dodgers had the best deal. Fine.
The Tigers traded the best pitcher in baseball for the last 3 years for 3 (not even top) prospects. To be fair, L.A. has a monster player development system. So again? Fine.
You mean to tell me there was not one single solitary major league player, Dodger or otherwise, they wouldn’t have wanted to get?
All due respect to the Dodgers’ farm system, but THAT was the best deal presented to them for TARIK SKUBAL?!
Let’s look at some other deals that took place yesterday before the 6 pm deadline.
Robbie Ray and Casey Mize to the Padres. San Diego waited until the deadline to acquire a former Cy Young winner. While Ray and Mize are no Tarik Skubal, the Padres’ willingness to pay for frontline pitching highlighted that the market for starters remained active until the end.
Heliot Ramos to the Yankees. New York made its move late instead of acting days beforehand. It reinforced the perception that buyers were waiting to see how the market unfolded.
Clay Holmes to the Cubs. Chicago added pitching late in the deadline. More evidence that clubs were still willing to deal significant assets at the buzzer.
3 minor league prospects were worth more than anything these other teams had.
Speculative reports named Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Will Warren, and Chase Hampton to be dealt to the Tigers from the Yankees as early as January. Was this really the best deal?
Maybe it was in the grand scheme of things. But it’s understandable why Tigers fans remain skeptical. When an ace of this caliber is on the market, history shows bidding should intensify as the deadline approaches, not cool off.
Does a move like this strengthen the argument that the sport needs a salary cap? And if so, was this trade made when it was made and who it was made with for that reason? It will most certainly come up at some point in the off-season negotiations. In fact, I’ve heard some call for an investigation into this trade for that exact reason.
Could we all be wrong, and this trade actually works out well?
We will have to wait and see. Until then, fans are left with one unavoidable feeling: not that Skubal was traded. That was a given after he won arbitration. But that they may never know whether waiting even one more day could have changed everything.
Tigers’ Bats Finally Wake Up, But Can They Keep the Momentum Going?
For a majority of this season, the Tigers have faced an identity crisis on their offense. This past week? They may have found it.
This past week saw one of the most explosive stretches of the year. Winning four of six games and reminding the rest of the American League how dangerous this lineup can be when firing on all cylinders.
Detroit scored at least eight runs in five consecutive games, something that had not been done since 1996. The weight of the team was on the shoulders of one or two hitters. It was distributed evenly. This lineup looked like a well-functioning machine.
With a more controlled swing and more patience in his approach, Spencer Torkelson continues to anchor the middle of this order. Between his run production and well-timed extra-base hits, Tork is showing signs that made him the first overall pick.
What more can be said about the consistency of Riley Greene? A man I have championed as the heartbeat of this offense. Greene finds ways to reach base while putting pressure on opposing pitchers. The Tigers become a much different team when Greene reaches a bag.
Kerry Carpenter continues to bring the power and is one of the Tigers’ most dangerous weapons, and who isn’t pleased with the development of Professor Kevin McGonigle? He shows maturity like a seasoned veteran at the plate.
The starting rotation looked like all-stars. Six shutout innings from Montero against the A’s, 7 shutout innings from Melton against the O’s, and Olson was able to avoid big innings for the opposition, keeping the Tigers in the game.
Depth is what we needed from the starting rotation, and we got it in spades this week. The question now remains: life after Skubal. Replacing the best pitcher in baseball isn’t realistic. Everyone from the starters to the closers needs to step up.
While the offense grabbed headlines, scoring 8 or more runs in 5 games, the starters quietly laid the foundation for this stretch of good fortune for the Tigers. They gave quality innings, limited damage, and put the club in the position to win nearly every night. A formula they will need to continue to follow now that the rotation no longer includes Tarik Skubal.
To close, if this week is any indication of the rest of the season. Not only did we see the blip I alluded to last week.
The Tigers are off life support and breathing on their own again
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