Tigers' best move of the 2024 trade deadline actually wasn't a move at all

One of the biggest questions at this year's trade deadline was whether or not the Tigers would trade Tarik Skubal. We've gone through all of the reasons why that would've been a horrible idea for Detroit: it would isolate the fan base, it would mean the Tigers were basically waving a white flag on the next few years, and so on.

But thankfully, Skubal didn't go anywhere. According to Scott Harris, he was never going anywhere; although the team did take calls and entertain offers, they "never came close" (subscription required). Harris did also refuse to say if this meant that the Tigers would be more aggressive on the free agent market during the offseason, but that's something we can fight him about later.

For now, there's just the relief that the Tigers didn't completely shoot themselves in the leg by trading Flaherty and Skubal. Trading Flaherty left two healthy starters in the Tigers rotation — Skubal and Keider Montero, and three if you count Bryan Sammons — and it's hard to picture a world in which there was any hope for this team at all through the rest of the season if they were left only with Montero and Sammons.

Tigers dodged disaster by not trading Tarik Skubal at the deadline

It's also hard to put any faith in Harris and the Tigers front office's ability to make a worthwhile deal for Skubal happen, especially given the return they got from the Dodgers for Jack Flaherty, which seems to shrink even further in the shadows of the Padres' deal for Tanner Scott and the Astros' for Yusei Kikuchi. Thank goodness that the Tigers weren't actually wanting to trade Skubal like they were Flaherty. Otherwise, that probably would've turned into one of the nastier trades we've ever seen.

Renewed calls for Detroit to extend Skubal are bound to crop up because he's staying put, and the Tigers really need to listen now. Although Skubal is a Scott Boras client and Scott Boras clients don't typically sign extensions, there's an exception to every rule (José Altuve, Boras client, signed an extension this season) and maybe Boras' terrible showing this past offseason will get him to change tacks.

The Tigers, at the very least, need to try. At least start showing Skubal now how much the team wants to keep him in the organization, and do him one better by actually spending the money to build up a better team around him.