Proposed Tigers trade package for Paul Skenes wouldn't get Detroit close to a deal

Although a Paul Skenes trade is looking more and more unlikely this season, the Pirates are going to have to have a longer think on whether or not they should deal him before he hits free agency if they spend another year in baseball's basement.

But the Pirates shutting down the possibility of it happening this year hasn't stopped trade proposals from pouring in, especially for some of the teams with the best farm systems in baseball — the Dodgers, Red Sox and Tigers.

Including this season, Skenes is still six years away from free agency, so any trade package for him would basically gut the buying team's farm system. A team like the Tigers, which values its prospects so highly, might not want to even consider a trade if the price is that exorbitant.

Still, it doesn't hurt to speculate. Jim Bowden of The Athletic took a crack at some packages the Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Tigers, and Mets could send to Pittsburgh in exchange for Skenes (subscription required). For Detroit, he named OF Max Clark, SS Bryce Rainer, RHP Jaden Hamm, and RHP Owen Hall, but realistically, not even that would be enough to move the needle.

The Athletic's proposed Tigers-Pirates trade for Paul Skenes includes four top prospects, but that might not be enough

Our trade package included Clark, Rainer, and Hall, but swapped out Hamm with Hao-Yu Lee and added Spencer Torkelson. Torkelson, or any major-league ready bat, for that matter, would have to be included in a package, considering the Pirates' terrible offense. Torkelson's experienced an unexpected ascent this season, but he's proven himself less than the likes of Riley Greene or Kerry Carpenter.

That's not to say that the Tigers would be willing to give Torkelson up on top of all of those prospects, even for a guy like Skenes. They should already have their hands full with figuring out how they're going to extend Tarik Skubal. Reese Olson, and Jackson Jobe all have varying amounts of team control left to ensure that the rotation stays mostly steady through at least 2026, when both Skubal and Casey Mize hit free agency.

If the Pirates wait to trade Skenes until he's eligible for arbitration, they're going to get a lot less in return. That could be the Tigers' time to strike — if Pittsburgh isn't even willing to pay him what he's worth to avoid a hearing — but right now it seems out of the question for Detroit.