Dying Dodgers-Tarik Skubal talks might've made Tigers fans forget this lurking suitor

Even if Tarik Skubal is still wearing the Old English D come Opening Day, the Tigers won't be out of the rumor-haunted woods until the trade deadline in late July. Unless they extend him (and they probably won't), two specters will hang over the entire year — a possible trade and an even more possible departure in free agency.

The Dodgers have been most actively connected to Skubal out of any of the usual suspects — Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, maybe Phillies — but those rumors have subsided, and SportsNet LA insider David Vassegh seems certain that a deal won't happen this offseason. Relief, right?

Not so. The Dodgers loom so large in any room they occupy that it's easy to forget there are others in the room. According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Mets are still hanging around.

The Mets' offseason has been ridiculous and delightful to watch from afar in a kind of schadenfreude-y way, but there's reason to believe they're just waiting to make the move that will redeem them. It could be signing (and probably overpaying) Kyle Tucker. It could still be trading for Skubal.

Mets are still interested in Tarik Skubal despite waning Dodgers-Tigers rumors

New York lost four long-time staples of their roster in rapid succession: they sent Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers, Edwin Díaz came to the Dodgers, Pete Alonso went to the Orioles, and Jeff McNeil went to the Athletics.

Still, owner Steve Cohen vowed on Twitter that the Mets' payroll in 2026 would look generally the same as it did in 2025. The Nimmo-Marcus Semien trade basically ended up at a net neutral in terms of payroll, and they sent money along to not-Vegas with McNeil, but Díaz and Alonso coming off the books gives them a lot of ground to cover if president of baseball operations David Stearns want to make good on Cohen's promise.

Either of Nimmo and McNeil probably could've been the major league headliners in a potential trade for Skubal, which will certainly require at least two immediate impact players, but the Mets still have pieces the Tigers could pick at will. They've expressed interest in Brett Baty in the past, and the Mets have a strong prospect core at the top of their pipeline.

The Mets seem to be completely scattered at this point in the offseason — Stearns is known for being a savvy guy, but he's running around very much like a headless chicken right now — so staying on the Tigers' radar for a Skubal trade might just be lip service; something to give their fans an iota of hope.

But where Mets fans might see hope, Tigers fans just get anxiety. This is the world we live in now.