The Tigers keep hovering in that uncomfortable middle ground: not buried, not safe, and still very much part of the Tarik Skubal trade chatter as July begins.
Detroit is 38-49 and sits 8.0 games out in the AL Central, but the weak AL Wild Card picture keeps the door cracked open. The Tigers are only 6.0 games back of a postseason spot, which is enough to keep the possibility alive that they could play their way into October. That uncertainty is exactly why the Skubal rumors refuse to go away.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield is still pushing Detroit to move the ace, even while acknowledging the two obvious hurdles standing in the way of any deal. One is Skubal’s performance since coming back from injury. The other is the Tigers’ own reluctance to act like a seller while they can still squint at the standings and see a path.
“First, though Skubal has returned from his elbow injury and throwing as hard as pre-injury, the results haven't been up to his usual standards, as he has given up seven home runs in four starts since coming off the injured list,” Schoenfield writes.
That stretch matters. If Skubal isn’t fully back to his usual level, that can change how other teams view the price tag. A recent quality six-inning outing against the New York Yankees helps, but he still needs to keep stacking better starts if Detroit wants maximum value.
The other obstacle is just as plain: the Tigers may not be ready to wave the white flag.
“Second, the Tigers will need to be convinced they're out of the playoff race - and though they're 11 games under .500, FanGraphs puts their chances of making the playoffs at around 24%,” Schoenfield writes.
That number helps explain why a Skubal trade isn’t automatic. The Tigers are still well below .500, but they also carry a plus-11 run differential, one of just five teams in the AL with a positive mark. That gives them enough evidence to believe there’s still something here.
Even so, Schoenfield’s bottom line is clear.
“Given the struggles of the bullpen and an inconsistent offense, a run like two years ago feels unlikely, so it still makes sense for the Tigers to cash in on Skubal and add more premium young talent,” Schoenfield writes.
That’s the heart of it. Detroit’s bullpen has been shaky, the offense has been uneven, and the kind of surge the Tigers need doesn’t look likely.
So while dealing a Cy Young-winning ace would hurt, the argument for moving Skubal now is about the future, not the present. If the return is strong enough, it could help the franchise far more than holding him for a long-shot push.
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Tarik Skubals return to the mound has been one of the bright spots of the Tigers season, especially after he came back from elbow surgery and quickly looked like himself again. In 11 starts, the two-time American League Cy Young winner has posted a 3.15 ERA, a reminder of why Detroit has leaned so heavily on him as the anchor of its rotation.
Now, though, the conversation around Skubal is drifting far beyond his next outing. With the 2026 trade deadline still ahead, his name has surfaced in chatter among multiple clubs, a familiar kind of noise for an ace of his stature but one Tigers fans would rather not hear attached to a pitcher who has already proved how valuable he can be. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the buildup matter is not just the radar-gun reading, but what it says about the shape of Jobes recovery. He has already cleared bullpen work, and if the rest of the rehab keeps moving cleanly, Detroit can start imagining him as part of the 2026 rotation picture. For a club that has been waiting to see whether one of its top arms could come back on schedule, that kind of progress is enough to keep the conversation alive all summer. [Read more 🡒]