3 ways the Tigers could (and should have) improved Tarik Skubal-Dodgers trade package

Scott Harris got a deal done, but "got a deal done" and "got the best deal" aren't the same thing. Once Detroit started scuffling after the All-Star break, and the trade rumors heated up, everyone knew Skubal was never walking out of Detroit for nothing. As a pending free agent, trading him was absolutely the right call, but how they did it is another story.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle graded this one an A for the Dodgers and a flat-out D for the Tigers, writing that Detroit "could have waited longer before calling it a deal" with the deadline still almost two days away and Milwaukee reportedly still lurking.

The Tigers were negotiating from a position of power — baseball's best pitcher, multiple desperate buyers, real time left on the clock — and they still came home from the right pond without the biggest fish in it. Let's explore what could have been.

A Dodgers package built around Sirota or Quintero, not Hope

Hope is very talented and is an exciting prospect. However, he's basically another version of Max Clark, the Tigers' top propsect who just made his MLB debut. Sirota and Quintero were the real luxury in that minor league system — high upside, right-handed-hitting outfielders addressing a niche gap the Tigers' own lineup and lefty-stacked upper minors actually have.

On the mound, Justin Wrobleski should've been the headliner over River Ryan. Ryan has real tools as a converted two-way player, but he's pitched to a 4.46 ERA in 36.1 innings at Triple-A this year and is currently on the injured list with a recurring hamstring issue (in his first action back since Tommy John surgery). Wrobleski owns a sub-3.00 ERA over 17 starts and was an All-Star. One's currently establishing himself as an elite big-league arm, while the other is still a bet. The Tigers could have had a better outfielder and a better major-league ready arm.

The Brewers' offer, built around Logan Henderson

Per Lance Brozdowski's trade-value comps, Milwaukee's equivalent package likely centered around Henderson, another controllable big-league starter with a sub-2.50 career ERA and a changeup that already grades as plus.

This is where the Tigers had real leverage to create a bidding war: Luis Peña or Luis Lara, both elite position player prospects (with Lara already in the major leagues), or catcher Jeferson Quero, would've been a real coup. And if upside was the priority over Hope specifically, Braylon Payne is a name worth chasing — a 6-foot-2 outfielder with 70-grade speed and a legitimately physical frame, even if he hits from the left side like Hope.

The Rays' or Cubs' offer: what could they have been for Tigers?

Tampa's presumed package likely would have started with Brody Hopkins, a 6-foot-4 righty touching 97 with a top-of-the-system curveball and a 28.7% strikeout rate at Double-A, plus a resurgent Brayden Taylor and Trevor Harrison. Hopkins is the Rays top pitching prospect, while Brayden Taylor is a bat-to-ball prospect with good speed and athleticism. Harrison is another 6-4 RHP that the Rays drafted and developed.

Chicago's reported offer had Ben Brown, who posted a 1.85 ERA before landing on the injured list in late June with a recurring neck stress reaction. While that same injury had cost him time before, Brown had made some serious adjustments that helped him emerge as one of baseball's best pitchers, stuff-wise. A trade centered around him alongside a combo of Josiah Hartshorn (Cubs No. 1 prospect) with Brooks Caple would have been exciting start to the conversation for Tigers fans.

The pattern across all three opportunities? The Tigers missed out on controllable, big-league-caliber arms that can contribute right now, not a pitcher with an injury history and limited major league experience. They could have had other dynamic athletes with upside that complement their other prospects, not replicate them. The Tigers were fishing from the right pond. They just came home an hour or two early, and the bigger fish was still out there.

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