Matt Johnson
The Detroit Tigers were one of the worst teams in baseball this past month and enter this month 16 games below .500. With the club increasingly likely to be a seller at the MLB trade deadline, all eyes have been focused on Tarik Skubal.
Fansided‘s MLB insider Robert Murray recently wrote that the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers could be two interesting “longshots” to watch for a potential Skubal trade.
Related: 4 Teams named Early Suitors for Tarik Skubal
The more surprising of the two is Milwaukee. Entering MLB games today, the Brewers lead the NL Central by 4.5 games and sit 14 games above the .500 mark. They should obviously be buyers at the trade deadline, but acquiring Skubal would seemingly go against the organization’s approach in recent years.
In recent seasons, the club has traded All-Star pitchers Freddy Peralta and Josh Hader when they were nearing the ends of their contracts. It did not matter that Milwaukee was still planning to be a contender; it flipped some of its best pitchers before they could hit MLB free agency and replenished its farm system in the process.
It is also not like the Brewers rotation has been an issue this season. Entering play on June 1, Milwaukee’s starting pitchers ranked fourth in ERA (3.11). Even with Logan Henderson (back strain), Brandon Woodruff (shoulder), and Quinn Priester (arm) on the injured list, the club posted the lowest rotation ERA (2.48) and batting average allowed (.197) in baseball across May.
Skubal would purely be a half-season rental for Milwaukee and there would be no chance of the club re-signing him, given he is expected to land a multiyear deal worth north of $300 million. Furthermore, because he would be an in-season acquisition, the Brewers could not extend him a qualifying offer and would not receive a compensatory pick once he left in free agency.
The Rays, on the other hand, make more sense. Tampa Bay aggressively pursued Shohei Ohtani when the Los Angeles Angels considered moving him in his contract year. The club has also pursued other All-Star talents in their contract years.
We would not be surprised if the Rays, who boast the top record in the American League, pursue a trade for Skubal in July. If other organizations are hesitant to give up the necessary prospect capital to acquire the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner as a pure half-season rental, there could even be a chance of Tampa Bay pulling off a deal.
