Brewers-Tarik Skubal trade talk may not be as far-fetched as it sounds.
Milwaukee has been winning plenty, but the rotation picture is getting thinner at the wrong time. The Brewers are 63-38 through 101 games, better than where they stood a year ago, when they were 60-41 at the same point and eventually finished with a franchise-record 97 wins. Even so, that regular-season success didn’t carry over in the playoffs, where the Los Angeles Dodgers swept them in four games in the National League Championship Series.
This year’s Brewers are dealing with a different kind of problem. Kyle Harrison, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester are all down, and only Harrison is expected back this season. That leaves Milwaukee in need of more pitching if it wants to make a real run, especially with the Dodgers still looming as the team to beat in the National League.
That’s part of why Tarik Skubal keeps popping up in trade chatter. The Brewers have the best farm system in baseball, and that kind of prospect capital naturally puts them in the conversation when big names are mentioned. Freddy Peralta has also been floated as a possible deadline fit, but Skubal is the headline-grabber.
On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon added more fuel to the speculation. They reported that the Detroit Tigers are "mulling the possibility" of moving Skubal for a package that would help them now and later.
"The Detroit Tigers probably cannot trade Tarik Skubal without dramatically compromising their chances of winning the World Series. But the Tigers are at least mulling the possibility of securing a package for Skubal that potentially would keep them strong in the present while making them stronger for the future."
Rosenthal and Sammon also said Detroit would want a controllable starting pitcher along with "quality prospects" in any Skubal deal. In that context, they mentioned eight young starters who could interest the Tigers, including Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson.
Henderson came back to the majors on July 9 after missing time with a back injury. He has made seven starts this season and owns a 2.97 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. Last year, in his big league debut, he posted a 1.78 ERA in five starts.
When he’s been healthy, Henderson has looked like a front-of-the-rotation arm, and he’s under team control through the 2031 season.
If Milwaukee were somehow able to build a playoff rotation around Skubal, Jacob Misiorowski, Harrison, Lance McCullers Jr. if he can stay healthy and be inserted into the rotation, and Brandon Sproat, that would be a serious group. The Dodgers may have the best record in baseball, but they’re also dealing with injuries and have shown vulnerability, and the Brewers are just a half-game behind them despite their own issues.
That’s why Henderson’s name matters here. If Detroit is serious about exploring a Skubal deal, Milwaukee has the kind of young pitching piece that could at least make the conversation worth having.
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