Tigers-Dodgers Tarik Skubal trade talks remain unaffected by Tyler Glasnow's comments

Let’s get one thing straight before Detroit Tigers fans let the latest Los Angeles Dodgers soundbite send them spiraling: Tyler Glasnow saying the Dodgers told him he won’t be traded does not materially change the Tarik Skubal conversation. Not for Detroit. Not for L.A. And certainly not for Scott Harris.

If anything, Glasnow’s comments just exposed a false assumption that never really made sense in the first place. For weeks, the national framing has been lazy but loud: If the Dodgers trade for Skubal, Glasnow has to be in it. Except… why?

From the Tigers’ perspective, Glasnow is almost completely irrelevant to the calculus of trading a 29-year-old, back-to-back AL Cy Young winner with a year of control left and a $400 million-plus future looming.

The Tigers aren't rebuilding. They’re also not one arm away from a World Series. They’re stuck in the most uncomfortable place in baseball purgatory — and that means if Skubal is moved, it’s about future value, not short-term patchwork.

Glasnow is 31 years old, injury-prone, expensive and under contract through his mid-30s. That’s not a foundational piece. That’s a payroll anchor for a team that still hasn’t proven it will spend aggressively when it matters most.

If the Tigers trade Skubal, it’s not to replace him with a fragile ace on the wrong side of the age curve. It’s to reset the timeline with premium, controllable talent.

Tyler Glasnow's comments don't change a thing about Tarik Skubal, and Tigers fans should know better

Glasnow staying in L.A. makes perfect sense for the Dodgers. He’s part of their “win-now, defer-everything, figure-it-out-later” machine. But Detroit doesn’t share that worldview.

Harris isn’t trying to stack Cy Young candidates like Pokémon cards. He’s trying to manage a payroll with ownership constraints, avoid losing Skubal for a compensatory pick, and balance a roster that still lacks elite bats and bullpen depth.

That’s why any real Skubal discussion with the Dodgers was always about prospects first, not about shuffling expensive Major Leaguers. Think upper-tier position players, high-end pitching prospects, multiple years of control and cost certainty. Glasnow never fit that picture, logically or financially.

If anything, Glasnow saying the Dodgers told him he’s not being moved reinforces something Tigers fans should already understand: if Detroit makes a Skubal trade, it will be on Detroit’s terms — or not at all.

The Dodgers don’t need to empty their rotation to make a deal. The Tigers don’t want an aging, expensive pitcher back. Those two truths can coexist without killing trade talks.

This was never about swapping aces. It was about whether L.A. would meet Detroit’s asking price in long-term value — and whether Christopher Ilitch would even approve pulling the trigger in the first place.

The real variable isn't Glasnow. It never was. Tigers fans just keep getting distracted by the wrong pieces. The real questions have always been whether Ilitch will authorize an extension for Skubal, whether Scott Harris will get approval to trade him before his value begins to decline, and whether Detroit will commit to building aggressively around him instead of hedging.

If Skubal does end up staying put? It won’t be because Glasnow said he’s safe. It’ll be because the Tigers, once again, chose indecision over direction.