Tarik Skubal's emotional reaction to Dodgers trade should make Tigers fans more furious

Tarik Skubal was following his normal off-day routine on Saturday as the Tigers were in the middle of their second game in Sacramento, facing the A's. But this time, as he walked into the clubhouse, it was different.

"I got a phone call and [thought], I know what this," a clearly emotional Skubal told reporters after the Tigers' 8-6 victory helped them close to within 2.5 games of an American League wild card spot.

Skubal was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night and the Tigers received a trade package that hasn't exactly been raved about.

During the course of a few minutes, Skubal spoke about the organization that took a chance on him, the fans that cheered for him, and the players who spent time in the clubhouse with him, frequently wiping his eyes and appearing to try to hold the emotions of the moment back. He was trying to balance the rollercoaster of feelings as he looked back at the years prior while coming to the realization he's joining MLB's super team.

"The fan support of me and my family, everywhere I go, I've always appreciated that. It means a lot more than they probably get credit for," Skubal said.

Tigers fans can commiserate with the rollercoaster aspect, though we are likely a little more used to it right now. Dating back about a decade, being a Tigers fan has meant watching a club too cheap to try to pay for its own stars ship them off to a team willing to do so. It might be more acceptable if any of the prospects paid off, but at best the return has been no better than what the team could have acquired with a low-level free-agent signing.

Skubal was traded for three prospects: outfielder Zyhir Hope (Dodgers' No. 5 prospect), pitcher River Ryan (No. 7) and pitcher Brady Smith (No. 17).

For a two-month rental who missed a month after elbow surgery, that may even be the proper return for Skubal. But it doesn't make it feel like the right decision to make.

Watching another Tigers fan favorite be traded leaves Detroit more than just sad

So for a fan of Skubal and the team, the sadness cannot be coupled with his excitement, but rather some anger and maybe a little disgust at yet again being in this position. He will go on to win and play in important games. Tigers fans can live vicariously through some other team as they've been forced to do for most of the past four decades. We will talk about how "he wasn't going to sign here anyway" not because the owners of the team couldn't afford to do so, but because they chose not to bother trying.

And right up to the end, he really spent a lot of time trying to tell people he wanted them to try.

"I'm very appreciative of everything the Tigers have done for me," Skubal said. "Just drafting me in 2018, giving a kid a chance out of a small school, and giving me every resource to use. Everything's always been at my disposal, whatever I want.

"They've always had answers or a plan for me," he continued. "I feel like I've experienced a lot, kind of gone through the ups and downs and gone through a lot of failure early in my career, and this club never stopped believing in me, kept throwing me out there every fifth day when I probably didn't deserve to be. That's something that I'll never take for granted. "

If only the team cared as much as its players and its fans. But with two exciting 21-year-olds on the club in Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark, we'll just play the song again knowing how it ends.

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