Tigers betray rest of MLB by trading Tarik Skubal to Dodgers for underwhelming return

That's it. It's done. Tarik Skubal's final game as a Detroit Tiger was indeed on Wednesday. He was traded late Saturday night in a deal that will surely have the rest of Major League Baseball fuming beyond belief.

The Tigers struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospects Zyhir Hope (OF), River Ryan (P) and Brady Smith (P), according to Jeff Passan. That's LA's Nos. 5, 7 and 17 prospects, but it feels light given the stakes.

The Dodgers are gunning for their third straight World Series. They had assets upon assets to trade. The deadline isn't until Monday at 6 p.m. ET. Why did the Tigers settle for what some might perceive to be an underwhelming package?

They were in need of controllable pitching and young outfielders. They got that ... but the Dodgers possessed better options. Mike Sirota was rumored as the possible frontrunner in this deal as early as Friday. Name like Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan were floated as pitching acquisitions who had ample big league experience.

Hope is definitely the prize here, but Ryan is a 27-year-old who is coming off Tommy John surgery. Smith is a 2023 third-round pick who just reached High-A a couple starts ago. This was really the best Scott Harris could've done to gift the Dodgers a three-peat and essentially guarantee a lockout?

Tigers' trade return for Tarik Skubal let Dodgers off the hook

How do you finalize this deal without one of Sirota or Wrobleski? Did Harris not fight harder for Andy Pages? We'll obviously learn more details as they become available, but it's stunning to know the Tigers "weren't seriously discussing Skubal" as of Saturday morning but then all of a sudden finalized this deal just before midnight.

With the Tigers just three games back of the final Wild Card spot in the AL, they had all the reason in the world to keep Skubal and attempt an unlikely playoff run. They had the leverage here. They weren't 15 games under .500 with everything to lose by watching their star pitcher walk in the offseason.

They held the keys to the Dodgers cementing their dynasty. And they seemingly didn't drag out the discussions to their advantage. They took an offer that will surely get graded poorly in all of Sunday morning's articles.

The Tigers just promoted their top prospect Max Clark, who has impressed in his first two games. They're creeping closer to .500. There's two months of the season left. You could argue it was asking a lot of them to keep Skubal and navigate their way through a crowded AL playoff field. Fans can at least be logical about that.

But it wasn't too much to ask to back Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers into a corner. That's the least Harris and the front office could have done. So when this package doesn't pan out and the Dodgers cruise to another title and we lose months of baseball in 2027, this will be looked back upon incredibly unfavorably.

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