Tigers' Jake Rogers DFA all but guarantees Tarik Skubal's next start will be his last

On Tuesday, the Tigers designated Jake Rogers for assignment to make room for Javy Báez coming off the IL after a three-month absence. It was a shocker, not only because there was an underperforming outfielder right there for the Tigers to cut (no offense to James Outman) but because that underperforming outfielder hasn't also been a fixture of Detroit's clubhouse for the better part of a decade like Rogers.

It was impossible not to take Rogers being cut as a reflection of the Tigers' trajectory as we get perilously close to the deadline. It's all but guaranteed that Detroit will find a trade partner for Rogers — catchers are always in demand — but where he goes, Tarik Skubal might follow.

The Skubal-Rogers battery was so instrumental to Skubal's 2024 Cy Young campaign that the ace shouted him out in his acceptance speech and gifted him a Rolex to match Skubal's own. Their joint starts have obviously dwindled to the point of rarity with Dillon Dingler's ascent, but Rogers was looking very much like Skubal's personal catcher for a few years. The more sentimental among us might remember Rogers, in a video to celebrate Skubal's second Cy Young win, saying, "You mean a lot to this team. You mean a lot to me."

And what might soften Skubal's landing with another team after the trade deadline? If his personal catcher was already on their roster.

Jake Rogers ' DFA signals that the Tigers are opening up for business at the trade deadline

Skubal is expected to make his scheduled start at Comerica Park on Wednesday in the Tigers' finale against the Orioles. We already knew that it could be his last start there in a Tigers uniform, but Rogers' DFA should've set off a sinking feeling in your gut. More likely than not, it will be his last start.

The Tigers have gotten past the point of "what ifs." They're still under .500 and can't get there before the deadline. Winning this series against the Orioles and then their next against the Athletics might be enough to inspire a little more confidence in some, but for the rest of us, the writing is on the wall.

We'll undoubtedly be on hug watch for every single one of these next four games. It's an awful limbo to live it, but this is the trajectory the Tigers have sent themselves on.

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