Tigers Rumors: Unexpected Casey Mize trade destination surfaces after Tarik Skubal deal

The news broke late on Saturday night, and it was about as bad (if not worse) than fans expected. The Detroit Tigers traded Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that many throughout the industry are mocking as a gross undersell. This obviously won't instill much confidence in the Tigers fanbase as Detroit's braintrust now looks to trade their other top starter, Casey Mize.

Mize's name has been floating about for some time now, and Detroit even scratched him from a start last week in preparation for a potential trade deadline deal. To be fair, the last thing you want if you're Scott Harris is to see one of your most valuable trade chips suffer an untimely injury.

Among those interested in trading for the former first-round pick are the Arizona Diamondbacks. According to USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale, the D-backs would love to have Mize on their roster by the time the deadline passes on Monday.

D-backs emerge as potential landing spot for Casey Mize as Tigers rumors surge

Arizona has become somewhat of a mercurial deadline buyer. The D-backs' recent surge has pushed them ahead of the struggling Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card race, and it appears that Arizona is now looking to go toe-to-toe with their NL West foe, the Dodgers.

Both clubs have their eyes fixed on a return to the World Series. Los Angeles is, of course, back-to-back World Champs, while Diamondbacks represented the NL in 2023. With Skubal now in Hollywood, the D-backs will need to strengthen their rotation if they hope to make it back the promised land.

While Skubal has been heralded as the prize of the trade deadline, Mize is no slouch in his own right. The right-hander has made 16 starts on the season, and across 86⅔ innings of work owns an impressive 2.70 ERA and 2.58 FIP. He's also striking out nearly 25% of the opposing batters he faces, and his minuscule walk rate of 5.6% would look good in any rotation.

Much like Skubal, Mize is on an expiring contract, so the return won't be extravagant. But the Tigers might be able to squeeze at least one top-100 away from the Diamondbacks, and a young shortstop like Kayson Cunningham would fit well into Detroit's long-term plans.

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