Buster Olney's take on Tigers' trade deadline approach with Tarik Skubal changes nothing

When discussing a potential Tarik Skubal trade, ESPN's Buster Olney recently suggested the Detroit Tigers could maximize their return by absorbing the remainder of the ace's salary.

"If the Tigers decide to trade Skubal, they could get more prospect return if they signal the willingness to absorb most/all of his salary for the last two months," Olney posted on X last week. "And if they do that, more teams could be involved in the bidding."

While that may be technically true, it feels like a solution to a problem that doesn't actually exist.

We're talking about Tarik Skubal here. This is the reigning back-to-back Cy Young Award winner and arguably the best pitcher on the planet when healthy. If Skubal proves he's healthy following his return from elbow surgery, contenders aren't going to suddenly back away because they have to pay roughly $11 million over the final two months of the season.

In today's game, that's barely a rounding error for organizations with championship aspirations.

Tarik Skubal's salary doesn't change the barrier to entry in trade discussions with Tigers

The teams expected to pursue Skubal, the Los Angeles Dodgers chief among them, routinely spend tens of millions of dollars in pursuit of marginal upgrades. The Dodgers alone have demonstrated repeatedly that they are willing to absorb virtually any salary if it improves their chances of winning a World Series.

Would Los Angeles really walk away from a chance to add Skubal because it didn't get an $11 million discount? Of course not.

The same logic applies throughout the market. If a team believes Skubal can headline its postseason rotation, the salary isn't going to be what determines whether a deal gets done. The limiting factor has always been prospect capital, not cash.

Any conversation about a Skubal trade begins with elite prospects and likely requires multiple top-100 talents. That's the price of acquiring a pitcher of this caliber with another season of club control remaining beyond 2026.

Absorbing salary might slightly increase the number of teams willing to pick up the phone, but it doesn't meaningfully change the bidding war. The heavy hitters were already going to be involved. Every contender with a realistic chance of landing Skubal was already preparing to make an offer.

If the Tigers ultimately trade their franchise ace, the return won't be determined by who can afford the final $11 million. It will be determined by who is willing to part with the most talent. And that reality hasn't changed at all.

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