Dueling executive takes on Tarik Skubal trade show exactly why Tigers were never going to win

The Tigers made one of the most controversial deals at the trade deadline, shipping Tarik Skubal out west to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a couple of top-100 prospects and another young pitcher who was taken in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

Fans’ takes on the trade have been wide-ranging from “they got a solid haul” to “they gave up for no reason” and everything in between.

Front office takes are a little more harsh, it seems.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, some executives are proving exactly why the Tigers were never going to win with the mindset that Scott Harris was operating with. He wanted to get something for Skubal knowing that he would have a difficult time re-signing him in the offseason considering he’s asking for a historic deal.

Some baseball executives think that it was “embarrassing” to trade Skubal despite being in the middle of a playoff chase. The Tigers are in one of the worst divisions in baseball and they have the talent to compete, but they were willing to essentially cut ties with World Series contention just to get a few prospects for the best pitcher in baseball.

"It’s going to be embarrassing to them if they make the playoffs knowing that if they got in with Skubal and Mize, they could be playing in the World Series. They gave up any chance to go deep."

Anonymous MLB GM

Per Nightengale’s article, one executive said that the Tigers can very well make the playoffs but it won’t matter because they gave up the pitchers (including Casey Mize) that would have gotten them deep into the playoffs. They’re essentially eliminated from World Series contention because of the Skubal trade.

Is this fair? Yes and no. The Tigers still have some guys who can get them deep into the playoffs, but dealing Skubal definitely hurt their chances, if they do make the postseason. Troy Melton is currently the “ace,” but it would have been nice to have two lights-out starting pitchers and a third who could also pass as ace-adjacent in a playoff series, putting any team they face on the brink just by shutting the door for them offensively.

Now the Tigers just have Melton and Jackson Jobe to rely on.

Would it be “embarrassing” to make the playoffs now like one executive said? Not really, but it definitely lowers World Series odds drastically.

Scott Harris went all-in on the future while fans wanted the now

Being the president of baseball operations for a franchise that has seen a couple of playoff seasons recently, but is sick of being on outskirts of competing and wants desperately to win, it all is not easy.

Harris came to Detroit looking to build long-term success and he knew that it would upset some fans who wanted to keep all the stars in place. Even though Detroit is in contention now, not winning the World Series this year and losing Skubal in the offseason for nothing would have been worst-case scenario and there’s no way that fans would let Harris live that down.

Rival executives are right in saying that if the Tigers make the playoffs, they likely don’t have the pitching to go far. That’s OK with Harris as long as the organization is built for the future.

It’s going to take a few years before anyone really knows how good or bad this trade really was.

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