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Detroit — Casey Mize isn’t trying to dwell on it. It’s more like he can’t avoid it.
As he watches his locker neighbor Tarik Skubal prepare again for what might be his final start in a Tigers uniform, Mize knows he’s in the same boat. He is scheduled to start against the Athletics in Sacramento on Friday.
That will be his final start before Monday's trade deadline.
“I’m certainly thinking about it more now,” Mize said Wednesday morning. “There is a lot of unknown about what the next five or six days are going to bring and I am just as curious as anybody. It’s coming up more. It’s all around us. But we’ll see. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Friday could be my last one.”
It’s a disquieting place to be for Mize, a kind of purgatory between where he was drafted, grew up and played his entire career and having the freedom of free agency this offseason. The trade deadline is the last thing that will be out of his control moving forward.
He was asked what his heart wanted right now.
“I want to win,” he said. “I want to play somewhere I am comfortable, a place that wants me. Those are my priorities. I really want to win. That’s why we play. Whether that’s Monday comes and goes and I’m still here or if I’m elsewhere, I’m going to continue to want to win.
“There’s just so many scenarios that I try not to get sucked into that. But I know it’s a possibility.”
And, as has been the case since both were drafted in 2018, everything that Mize does is in someway connected to Skubal. It seems more likely the Tigers will trade one but not both before the deadline.
The Tigers would lop about $2 million off their payroll by trading Mize. Unless they offer to pay his salary down, Skubal has somewhere around $10 million left of his $32 million salary for this season.
The Tigers will be mindful of staying below the luxury tax, which will allow them to get a supplemental draft pick after the first round if either pitcher declines a qualifying offer and signs with another team this offseason.
If they are over the cap, they would get a supplemental pick after the fourth round.
“It’s comforting in a way,” Mize said of being able to go through this alongside Skubal. “We just have a ton of shared experience dating back to being drafted together, the minor leagues, injuries, success, failure, whatever. I’ve kind of been able to tuck in under him a little bit. Which has been nice for me but maybe not so much for him.
“I don’t know the big leagues without Tarik.”
This is the harsh reality of this part of the business. You lose friends. The Tigers said goodbye to catcher Jake Rogers on Tuesday. Mize and Skubal have been teammates with Rogers since Double-A Erie. They’ve lived with each other during spring training in Lakeland. They’ve celebrated each other’s weddings and the births of their children.
“It hurt a lot,” Mize said of Rogers being designated for assignment. “I love Jake. He was a central part of what we’ve accomplished here and what we’re about. That doesn’t stop because he’s gone. That will continue because he helped build it. But it hurt me a lot. And it will be the same if Tarik or I were to leave.”
Nobody knows what’s going to happen, though it seems increasingly inevitable that one or the other, Skubal or Mize, will be playing on a different team next week.
“We will see what comes of it,” Mize said. “But I’ve enjoyed every second of being Tarik’s teammate. He’s such a good player and a great person and my best friend. It’s sad to think it would be coming to an end. I’m hoping that’s not the case.”
[email protected]
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Casey Mize bracing for possibility of life without Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Continue reading...
As he watches his locker neighbor Tarik Skubal prepare again for what might be his final start in a Tigers uniform, Mize knows he’s in the same boat. He is scheduled to start against the Athletics in Sacramento on Friday.
That will be his final start before Monday's trade deadline.
“I’m certainly thinking about it more now,” Mize said Wednesday morning. “There is a lot of unknown about what the next five or six days are going to bring and I am just as curious as anybody. It’s coming up more. It’s all around us. But we’ll see. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Friday could be my last one.”
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It’s a disquieting place to be for Mize, a kind of purgatory between where he was drafted, grew up and played his entire career and having the freedom of free agency this offseason. The trade deadline is the last thing that will be out of his control moving forward.
He was asked what his heart wanted right now.
“I want to win,” he said. “I want to play somewhere I am comfortable, a place that wants me. Those are my priorities. I really want to win. That’s why we play. Whether that’s Monday comes and goes and I’m still here or if I’m elsewhere, I’m going to continue to want to win.
“There’s just so many scenarios that I try not to get sucked into that. But I know it’s a possibility.”
And, as has been the case since both were drafted in 2018, everything that Mize does is in someway connected to Skubal. It seems more likely the Tigers will trade one but not both before the deadline.
The Tigers would lop about $2 million off their payroll by trading Mize. Unless they offer to pay his salary down, Skubal has somewhere around $10 million left of his $32 million salary for this season.
The Tigers will be mindful of staying below the luxury tax, which will allow them to get a supplemental draft pick after the first round if either pitcher declines a qualifying offer and signs with another team this offseason.
If they are over the cap, they would get a supplemental pick after the fourth round.
“It’s comforting in a way,” Mize said of being able to go through this alongside Skubal. “We just have a ton of shared experience dating back to being drafted together, the minor leagues, injuries, success, failure, whatever. I’ve kind of been able to tuck in under him a little bit. Which has been nice for me but maybe not so much for him.
“I don’t know the big leagues without Tarik.”
This is the harsh reality of this part of the business. You lose friends. The Tigers said goodbye to catcher Jake Rogers on Tuesday. Mize and Skubal have been teammates with Rogers since Double-A Erie. They’ve lived with each other during spring training in Lakeland. They’ve celebrated each other’s weddings and the births of their children.
“It hurt a lot,” Mize said of Rogers being designated for assignment. “I love Jake. He was a central part of what we’ve accomplished here and what we’re about. That doesn’t stop because he’s gone. That will continue because he helped build it. But it hurt me a lot. And it will be the same if Tarik or I were to leave.”
Nobody knows what’s going to happen, though it seems increasingly inevitable that one or the other, Skubal or Mize, will be playing on a different team next week.
“We will see what comes of it,” Mize said. “But I’ve enjoyed every second of being Tarik’s teammate. He’s such a good player and a great person and my best friend. It’s sad to think it would be coming to an end. I’m hoping that’s not the case.”
[email protected]
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Casey Mize bracing for possibility of life without Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Continue reading...
