Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal exited last night’s start against the Twins following five shutout innings and just 77 pitches, prompting immediate speculation given his recent appearance on the rumor mill. Instead, the Tigers announced that Skubal was dealing with “arm fatigue.” The lefty downplayed the severity of the issue, telling reporters that he plans to make his next start. That, it seems, will definitively come in a Tigers uniform, as Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports that the organization has decided Skubal will not be moved by today’s 6pm ET deadline. They could potentially listen to offers on him again this winter, however, per Petzold.
It’s not clear whether the Tigers had made up their mind before Skubal’s latest outing or if the decision stems from the fact that other clubs are now surely a bit wary about Skubal’s immediate outlook. A trade always appeared to be a long shot anyhow, as Skubal has four more seasons of club control remaining and has pitched quite well in 2022. Through 112 2/3 innings, the former top prospect has turned in a 3.67 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 46.6% ground-ball rate.
For a Tigers club that lost Casey Mize to Tommy John surgery and has seen Matt Manning battle shoulder troubles this season, trading Skubal would only further cloud the immediate outlook for their rotation. They’d surely have needed multiple MLB-ready pieces with even greater club control that Skubal has, but a team parting with that type of package now seems all but impossible to imagine.
Instead, Tuesday will likely see the Tigers focus on finding deals for members of their quietly solid bullpen. SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that the Mets have been eyeing righty Michael Fulmer and lefty Andrew Chafin, both of whom can become free agents at season’s end (Chafin via a player option).
[Related: Tigers Trade Robbie Grossman to Braves]
Interestingly, however, Petzold suggests that if Chafin remains with the Tigers, he’s likely to exercise that player option due to Detroit’s relative proximity to his family in Ohio. If another club were to acquire Chafin, he could well turn down the option, which leads to a disconnect in perceived value. If the Tigers consider him likely to stay beyond the current season, but interested parties are effectively viewing him as a rental, it may be hard to align on a return that both teams deem fair value.
Elsewhere in the bullpen, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports that opposing clubs have not been willing to put together the type of prospect(s) the Tigers have been seeking for righty Joe Jimenez, who’s under club control through the 2023 season. The 27-year-old righty is finally enjoying the long-awaited breakout for which the organization has hoped, pitching 40 innings of 2.93 ERA ball with a massive 35% strikeout rate against a minuscule 5% walk rate.
Jimenez is averaging a career-high 95.9 mph on his heater, and according to Statcast, he’s among the league leaders in fastball spin rate (93rd percentile), opponents’ chase rate (91st percentile), whiff rate (82nd percentile), expected ERA (92nd percentile) and expected wOBA (92nd percentile). Given that dominance, a remaining year of control and a modest $1.79MM salary, it’s understandable if Detroit sets a lofty asking price.
Glad Skubal is staying as he’ll be the anchor of the Tigers pitching staff in 2024 when they’ll finally be ready to make their playoff push. It’s been a horrific year for the Tigers with way too many injuries and underperforming position players but still believe their future looks good
Thinking tigers can push for playoffs in less than a year from where they are now…couldn’t be me
Well he did say 2024 so, it’ll be 2 years from now.
Regardless, they still have a long way to go to be a playoff team. Even if Manning and Mize come back healthy and perform to what we all hope they’re capable of, the offense needs a lot of work.
Tigers were not really interested in trading Skubal. They just wanted to see if some team got stupid and offered a king’s ransom for him. When no one stepped up, the Tigers stepped away from trading him.
I agree. But, I don’t think he’s untouchable today. It’s possible someone offers the Tigers a deal they can’t turn down. I’d rather that he stick around because I’ve followed his meteoric rise through the minors. He’s no fluke.
Back in the day, this is the point where Trader Dave would’ve moved Skubal (& others) in a deal that brought Juan Soto to Motown, then signed him to a huge extension.
Yeah, but its not back in the day, and Dave would have been offering minor leaguers, like Wendt and Jobe. Never made sense for Avila to trade their one healthy starter.
Who tf is wendt?
You know exactly who he’s talking about. It was a typo.
Insert Stephen Stucker “Just kidding!” meme here
Aka, Avila will do nearly nothing… zero value from season results and limited return on any trade activity. The hamster wheel continues…
Tigers make a smart decision on Skubal. Javy Baez, meanwhile…
It meant nothing when they said they would listen to offers and it means nothing that they are now saying they won’t trade him as basically any player can be had for the right price. If some team comes up with an incredible offer at the last minute, even Al is smart enough to listen. If anything, the tigers are trying to up their price in the long shot someone will throw a crazy offer to them. After all, what sense does it make to announce you’re not trading a guy? This is Al’s version of savvy negotiation.
I personally feel like Skubal will be a Cy Young contender in the future, so I think he’s worth asking a ton for.
Agree, but never put Al Avila and “savvy” in the same sentence!
The savvy know Al Avila lacks savvy.
Hence the phrase “Al’s version”
Trade a 2 month rental in Fullmer for a couple of AA players. He is not going to resign, best you can hope for. Everyone thought Tigers would be better this, keep the bullpen together and unfortunately wait to next year
I wish they would keep Fulmer. I wish they would have extended him already. I wonder if the lack of extention was due to him losing his arbitration case a couple years ago. He’s like screw them, I’ll test the free agent waters jusr as soon as I can.
Hold out for a load in trade, or keep him. You have some pieces in a weak division. When you improve,you need starting pitching to contend. !
Last night was devastating for the Tigers.
Against a potential playoff team, the BP blows it,.one pitcher at a time. Showing, they have been lucky this year andnthat things will evenmout.to.averages., downward perifials.
Al really should.have traded these guys weeks ago. Why did he wait?
The deadline augments desperation, not value. Why wait?
Hire the Superfife, darn it. are the genius, “sports professionals ” AFRAID?
I challenge Chris Illich. Give.me., the remainder of.the day…a
And so on and so forth….
Value comes from desperation and desperation is a 2 way street. A team trying to win it all, and just a bullpen arm away has way more to lose than a team who is out of the playoffs. Worst case scenario for the Tigers is they get nothing for a very deep position. Worst case scenario for a contender is coming up a tad bit short because they didn’t fortify their pen.
You are a classic example of the Dunning Kruger Effect.
All this should have happened weeks ago…..
Like I have been saying, “It’s not what he has.done, it’s what he hasn’t done”.
If he was too busy concentrating on the draft, then maybe he should be delegating the authority to someone else.
By opening an “Office of the Laison to the Owner”(me and Leyland), you open a second line of communication with other teams,their GMs and their owners.
Seems like a solid business decision to me.
Seriously Chris, hire the Superfife. You need the help. Tiger fans need the hope. Al needs a break.
Don’t fire Al, hire the Superfife.
That’s why they have an assistant GM. Are your comments actually serious?
Of course, I am.
I am for anything that gets the job done. A direct “hotline”, is not the same thing as calling the assistant GM……
Too bad. This is a name I would’ve loved to see Texas pushing for.