The clock is ticking toward the MLB trade deadline, and the biggest name hanging over the market is still Tarik Skubal.
With the Detroit Tigers sitting six games under .500, six games out in the AL Central and 3½ back in the race for the league’s final wild-card spot, the picture got a lot clearer by Saturday: Detroit looks more and more like a seller. Skubal, the club’s two-time AL Cy Young winner, is the prize everyone is watching. He’s headed for free agency after the season and is widely viewed as a pitcher who could land the first $400 million contract in MLB history for a full-time arm.
That’s the backdrop as the final hours before Monday’s 6 p.m. deadline bring fresh movement around the league.
One of the most intriguing developments came from the Dodgers, who scratched two of their top outfield prospects, Zyhir Hope and Kendall George, from Double-A Tulsa on Saturday. The timing matters because Hope has been mentioned frequently as a possible centerpiece in any Skubal deal.
Hope, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 25 prospect in baseball, has put together a loud season. The 21-year-old, selected in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, was hitting .293 with 23 home runs and an .899 OPS for Tulsa going into Saturday. He also had 18 steals in 21 attempts.
George brings a different profile. The 21-year-old first-round pick in 2023 - taken one spot ahead of Tigers star Kevin McGonigle - was hitting .332 in Double-A with 11 doubles and no home runs in 55 games. He had drawn 31 walks against 49 strikeouts and swiped 33 bases in 38 tries.
Elsewhere, the Chicago White Sox made a notable move of their own, reportedly adding veteran right-hander Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners in a deal that sent reliever Seranthony Dominguez, outfielder Nolan Jones and catching prospect Boston Smith the other way.
Castillo, a three-time All-Star, has logged a 3.65 ERA across more than 1,500 innings over 10 seasons with the Reds and Mariners. But 2026 has been rough by his standards. He’s carrying a 5.06 ERA with 86 strikeouts, 32 walks and 16 homers allowed in 99⅔ innings.
The price tag is significant, too. The White Sox are reportedly taking on the rest of his contract, including about $7.6 million this season - the prorated portion of his $22.75 million salary - plus $22.75 million in 2026 and a $25 million option for 2028 that vests if he reaches 180 innings.
In Other News...
Casey Mize Now Hangs Over Tigers Deadline Plans After Skubal Trade
Tarik Skubal is gone, and that alone would have changed the way Detroit approached the rest of the deadline. But with the Tigers now weighing whether to move Casey Mize as well, the rotation picture has become the central issue hanging over a club that suddenly looks much more willing to deal from the top of its staff than expected. Mize has been one of the names most closely watched inside that conversation, especially after Detroit already made the bold choice to send Skubal to the Dodgers.
Mizes status has only sharpened the speculation, since the club has been operating as if another move could be coming. A USA Today columnist has linked the Diamondbacks as a possible fit, which only adds another layer to a deadline that now feels like it could reshape the Tigers pitching core in a matter of days. For a team that has already taken one major hit on the mound, the bigger question is whether it is done retooling or just getting started. [Read more 🡒]
Casey Mize Just Became The Tigers Toughest Deadline Decision
Tarik Skubal being sent to the Dodgers changed the tenor of the Tigers deadline in a hurry, and now Casey Mize sits at the center of it. The right-hander is on a one-year deal and has pitched well enough this season to draw real attention, with MLB insider Jon Heyman reporting that he is being viewed as the top rental starter available.
What makes this such a tricky call for Detroit is the market around him. Several contenders are already watching closely, and the Tigers have made it clear enough by moving Skubal that future assets are at least part of the conversation, even with a playoff push still technically in reach. If Mize moves too, it would be another sign that Detroit is leaning into the long view, even if the timing stings for a club that still has games left to play. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Fans Are Still Processing What This Skubal Deal Means
Casey Skubals run in Detroit is over, and the move lands like the kind of franchise-shaping decision Tigers fans are still trying to sort out. A two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, Skubal is headed to the Dodgers rotation after a 2026 season that reminded everyone how dominant he can be, even as he came back from recent surgery and worked through the kind of health questions that always make front offices think twice.
For Detroit, the return brings a different kind of conversation, one built around upside and timing rather than immediate certainty. Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith give the Tigers pieces to dream on, but any trade involving a pitcher of Skubals stature inevitably sends the fan base back to the same place: weighing the value of what is leaving against what might eventually come back, and wondering how much risk the club was willing to take with a star on a one-year contract. [Read more 🡒]