Two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is getting set to return to the mound for the Detroit Tigers in a shockingly short turnaround after elbow surgery last month. He's already blown away the competition in a rehab start, and is expected to pitch for the Tigers this weekend.
He threw 44 of 54 pitches for strikes in his minor league start, striking out six and walking none in five scoreless innings.
Trade rumors will start picking up again big-time once he returns and shows no worse for wear after having a loose body removed from his elbow with a cutting-edge new arthroscopic procedure.
Skubal is heading for the free agent market after the season, so the Tigers must deal him or lose him for nothing, which would be as unforgivable as, say, the Angels losing Shohei Ohtani for nothing.
And with that, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report has proposed a shocking deal that would send Skubal to, of all places, the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh Pirates receive:
Detroit Tigers receive:
- OF Edward Florentino
- LHP Hunter Barco
The Tigers get two of Pittsburgh's top three prospects. Florentino is currently in High-A Ball, and is the Pirates' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old 1B/OF is 6'4" with power and speed.
Barco, Pittsburgh's No. 3 prospect, has made a handful of appearances out of the bullpen this season for the big club. The lefty has impressive minor league numbers over the past four seasons.
But is that enough for the top pitcher in the sport? It's only a two-month rental, and we can assure you that the Pirates will not be bidding in the Skubal Sweepstakes once he hits free agency. Just paying the $9M or so in salary for August and September is already a crazy thought for the small-market team.
But imagine a playoff rotation featuring the two best pitchers in baseball, Skubal and Paul Skenes. No opposing team would be excited about facing that in the postseason.
The Pirates went as "all-in" this past offseason as they could reasonably go. Do they continue that at the trade deadline? They're just a half-game back of a Wild Card spot going into Wednesday's play.
Photo: © Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
