Dark horse Tigers trade candidate could fetch biggest haul outside of Skubal

The Detroit Tigers have completely taken over the rumor mill ahead of the July 30th trade deadline. The main discussions have been surrounding their top two starting pitchers Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty.

Skubal has been one of the best pitchers in the entire league, gaining steam as a potential trade asset when the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers expressed serious interest in trading for him. Those discussions have mostly fizzled out leaving Flaherty as the main trade chip for the Tigers

Flaherty, a rental starting pitcher, remains one of the best pitchers on the market. He could go for quite a haul of prospects in return. He's had quite the season for the Tigers this year. The righty has pitched so well that if he wasn't on an expiring deal, Detroit wouldn't even consider moving him.

Detroit also has one more pitcher that could draw some serious interest from contending teams.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

Detroit Tigers could get impressive return for their closer, James Foley

The market for closers has been absolutely ridiculous this season. We have seen relievers like AJ Puk and Hunter Harvey have been traded for massive returns.

Former MLB general manager and current national writer for The Athletic, Jim Bowden, spoke on the Tigers pitching, noting which players are likely to be moved and which aren't.

"It appears Skubal is more likely to stay a Tiger. However, I do think Detroit will get a strong return for Flaherty and maybe even closer Jason Foley," Bowden wrote.

With Harvey and Puk netting serious prospect hauls, a controllable closer like Jason Foley could net an incredible haul for the Tigers. Foley has three additional years of arbitration left on his contract.

Foley, 28, has a 3.31 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 128 ERA+ on the season. The righty has 15 saves in 35.1 innings. Given his production and team control, he would be a perfect trade piece for a ton of different contending teams.

Most contending teams likely wouldn't want him as a closer, but they could make a deal for him to be their setup man. The Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees all make sense as potential suitors, as they all have bullpen needs.

There's even potential that the Tigers could look to package Flaherty and Foley together, sending them to a pitcher-needy team in exchange for a huge return of prospects. But we'll have to wait and see by the July 30 deadline. But as of now, the stove is hot.