Baseball fans certainly tried their hardest to speak a world without Tarik Skubal on the Los Angeles Dodgers into existence, but the greater MLB community had no interest in listening. The Detroit Tigers traded the two-time defending AL Cy Young winner to the Dodgers last weekend, and the move has understandably proved immensely controversial.
Pundits were quick to criticize the Tigers’ return, which analysts felt was lacking. The Dodgers didn’t even need to give up a top-four prospect for Skubal, who will make his debut on Tuesday night against the Cubs. Detroit brought back outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith, the latter of whom isn’t even ranked among the top 100 prospects on MLB Pipeline.
Despite playing in a small market, the NL Central-leading Brewers made perfect sense as a possible Skubal landing spot, and they reportedly presented the Tigers with a package that Detroit might have been wrong in declining.
The Tigers should have immediately accepted the Brewers’ reported Tarik Skubal trade offer
According to MLB Advanced Media’s Adam McCalvy, the Brewers’ initial offer featured three prospects, at least two of whom ranked within MLB Pipeline’s top 100. Based on his reporting, that offer could have looked something like this:
McCalvy said that teenage infielder and No. 1 prospect Jesús Made was off limits. He also suggested that Luis Lara “probably wasn’t in play” because the young outfielder just signed a seven-year extension in June.
Alternatively, McCalvy noted that the third prospect could have been on or just outside another outlet’s Top 100. Major League Baseball officially uses MLB Pipeline, ESPN, and Baseball America’s prospect lists, specifically when rewarding teams via the Prospect Promotion Incentive.
The Tigers were reportedly among the teams interested in right-handed pitcher Logan Henderson, whom the Brewers retained. It is unclear whether the Tigers asked Milwaukee about Kyle Harrison, who has been traded from San Francisco and Boston since June 2025.
Why didn't the Tigers take the Brewers trade package for Tarik Skubal?
Objectively speaking, it’s difficult to understand why the Tigers wouldn’t have immediately taken the Brewers’ offer, assuming that’s either exactly how it looked or extremely close to it. Harris could have addressed finding a controllable pitcher separately. The priority should have been selling as high as possible on Skubal, and he failed, at least at face value.
Harris had leverage, yes, though that only goes so far if the return is lacking. And while no prospect is ever a sure thing, it’s not contradictory to believe the Tigers needed to consider the Brewers' offer far more than they did.
The Dodgers did nothing wrong by acquiring Skubal. They took advantage of a broken system that allows organizations to build super teams without threat of serious financial punishment. If anything, the Dodgers should be commended for wanting to exploit the lack of a salary cap.
And with regard to Harris, let’s not pretend that he traded Skubal for pennies and a half-eaten chocolate bar. Could he have gotten a bigger haul in terms of potential greater impact? Possibly, but that comes with the territory.
Still, Harris shouldn’t be confused if he’s the subject of indefinite glares around baseball for the foreseeable future. Voluntarily helping a much-bemoaned dynasty try to win its fourth championship in seven years doesn’t win you many brownie points.
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