Tigers' reported Tarik Skubal asking price should net them this return from Dodgers

To the dismay of Tigers fans, Tarik Skubal trade rumors are picking up steam, and they've moved past the confines of Twitter accounts belonging to guys you've never heard of.

No, now the national outlets are on it, too. Everyone is still very much split on whether or not a trade is actually going to happen, but there is consensus on one thing: talks between the Dodgers and Tigers about Skubal have taken place. They probably didn't get to the point David Pingalore insisted that they did, but Bob Nightengale reported that Detroit was "intrigued" by a potential package from the Dodgers.

SportsNet LA reporter David Vassegh lended even more credence to the credibility of those talks. He said that the Tigers are "requesting a package similar to what the Nationals received when they traded Juan Soto to the Padres in 2022."

Let's refresh on that Soto trade. Washington sent Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres in exchange for first baseman Luke Voit, shortstop CJ Abrams, lefty pitcher MacKenzie Gore, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, and righty pitcher Jarlin Susana.

Voit was an established major leaguer before the trade, and former top prospects Abrams and Gore made their major league debuts before the trade. Hassell and Wood have since debuted, and Susana is the Nats' No. 4 prospect.

Tigers reportedly asking for Juan Soto-esque return for Tarik Skubal

The Padres got Soto for a little longer than a buying team would get Skubal — a year and a half versus one year — but that should be the bar for the Tigers. If they're going to lose the best pitcher in baseball, they should absolutely rob the Dodgers (who have, by some accounts, the best farm system in baseball and, by all accounts, the most complete major league team in baseball) absolutely blind.

There may be some viability to those Tyler Glasnow rumors. He's clearly the most expendable pitcher in the Dodgers' rotation. That's not to say he's bad by any means, but when you share a rotation with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Shohei Ohtani, there always has to be an odd man out. But he would be a clear No. 1 for the Tigers, and that's an absolute must-have in any deal involving Skubal.

Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Hyeseong Kim should make up the major league portion of the deal. Then LA can add top prospects River Ryan (pitcher) and James Tibbs III (outfielder) to sign off on it. How would Tigers fans feel about that? We know the answer is nobody wants them to trade Skubal ... but this has to be the next best thing if ownership goes against everybody's wishes.

That might seem like an overpay for the Dodgers, but if it doesn't seem like that for any buying team, the Tigers just shouldn't do it at all.