Tigers next pitching prodigy could make trading Tarik Skubal tolerable

The Detroit Tigers have a tough call to make at the 2024 MLB trade deadline. Do they keep ace Tarik Skubal for another year, thus depreciating his trade value, or should they deal him now while he's pitching at an AL Cy Young level?

The latest updates on Skubal suggest Scott Harris is willing to listen on a potential trade. The likelihood of that trade remains low, unless an interested party like the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, or New York Yankees is willing to trade away top prospect capital. Skubal has a 2.41 ERA on the season, good for third in all of baseball.

The Tigers are 49-50 on the season, having won eight of their last 10 games. They're well within the AL Wild Card race. By no means is Detroit forced to sell, either, only further complicating matters.

Why the Tigers shouldn't trade Tarik Skubal

AJ Hinch sent a clear message to the front office after Saturday's win. He wants to buy at the trade deadline, rather than sell off expensive assets like Skubal. The truth is, the Tigers can do a little of both. Keeping their AL Cy Young frontrunner and adding a couple MLB-ready pieces around him makes the most sense, as does trading away players on expiring contracts like Jack Flaherty and Mark Canha if interested suitors are willing to match a high asking price.

If the Tigers trade Skubal, they will push back their competitive window even later. The team is competitive now, proving Harris and the new front office have made a positive difference in a very short time. Losing that kind of momentum is tough to recover from.

Tigers can afford to trade Tarik Skubal if they choose thanks to future ace

If Harris and the Tigers do choose to trade Skubal, they'll do so knowing their ace of the future is about a year away. Jackson Jobe, a former first-round pick, is the highest-rated right-handed pitching prospect in baseball. Jobe is throwing heat in Double-A, and pitched a no-hitter on Saturday.

It's true that prospects are far from sure things. Few teams know this better than the Tigers, as Casey Mize and Matt Manning haven't developed as expected. But, Jobe's received plenty of early praise in Erie and could be the next great Tigers prospect in the pipeline, making a Skubal trade slightly more tolerable.