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Red Sox Rivals Positioned To Trade For Tigers' Tarik Skubal originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Don't look for the Boston Red Sox to jump into the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes. But the same cannot be said of their division rivals.
The Detroit Tigers might deal the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The left-hander is recovering from elbow surgery and could return to the mound this month, weeks before the deadline. Problem is, the 29-year-old southpaw will be a free agent after the season, so he could end up being a very expensive short-term rental.
The Athletic's Jim Bowden imagined trade scenarios for the most likely contenders. Three of them live in the AL East, meaning the Red Sox could get a whole lot of Skubal during the stretch run.
At No. 2 are the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, who trail only the Los Angeles Dodgers on Bowden's list.
"The Rays are my sleeper team to land Skubal as team president Erik Neander is one of the smartest executives in the game and has a long history of making stealth attempts to acquire players like Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman," Bowden wrote.
"The Rays’ farm system is loaded and they could get creative in making an offer, starting with outfielder Theo Gillen, their top prospect, and right-handers Anderson Brito and Ty Nichols. Then they can finish the proposal with shortstop Victor Valdez. A strong package of these four prospects would really bode well for the future of the Tigers and, at the same time, give the Rays a legitimate chance to get back to the World Series," Bowden added.
No. 4 on the list are the New York Yankees.
"(T)hey might consider dealing right-hander Ben Hess and outfielder Spencer Jones to land Skubal, especially if they believe they can sign Skubal long-term. Can you imagine an October rotation of Skubal, Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler and Max Fried?" Bowden speculated.
The Toronto Blue Jays check in at No. 7.
"I think the Blue Jays would have a difficult time winning the Skubal sweepstakes unless they included shortstop JoJo Parker, their top position player prospect, and either left-hander Johnny King or both right-handers Gage Stanifer and Nolan Perry," Bowden said.
Latest Rumors
As for the latest on Skubal, the New York Post's Jon Heyman has the scoop: "Rehab game probably next week, possibly two weeks from MLB game."
But SI's Tom Verducci doesn't thing a Skubal trade is imminent.
"Don’t get caught up in the overhyped buzz now. Give it time, folks. If Detroit gets to late July and thinks the forgiving AL still gives it a shot at the World Series, it plays out the year with Skubal," Verducci reports.
"If the Tigers remain too far out of the race, they are obligated to do their due diligence and see what trade package they can get. That leaves above 50 games to be played before that question is answered," Verducci adds.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal agrees.
"(If) the Tigers decide to trade him, they likely will hold off as long as possible before the Aug. 3 deadline, allowing demand to build and Skubal to demonstrate he is back to his two-time Cy Young form," Rosenthal reports.
"Every contender will at least check in—yes, even the spendaholic, back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who might view the deadline as something close to last call. The next collective bargaining agreement will include either a salary cap, closing the sport’s Free Spending Saloon, or other payroll restrictions that would have a similarly sobering effect," Rosenthal adds.
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