Tigers' Tarik Skubal faces 1 big question before trade

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At this point, Tarik Skubal's trade status doesn't even seem to be in question.

The Detroit Tigers are faltering in a major way, and Skubal is in a contract year. He's shaping up to be a huge, but very logical, name to be moved before the trade deadline this summer.

No, the only question is an obvious but important one: his health.

"The biggest question surrounding a potential trade will be Skubal’s health," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand wrote in a new article on Tuesday. "The lefty is working his way back from last month’s elbow surgery, and as long as he proves that the issue is behind him, Skubal should command a healthy return if the Tigers decide to move him."

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In general, it seems Skubal has already surprised some observers with how quickly he's working his way back from the elbow ailment.

A quick return timeline is good for the Tigers as long as Skubal looks and stays healthy once he's back. It gives the lefty ace more time to show potential acquiring teams that he's good to go.

The nightmare for the Tigers would be if Skubal were to reinjure himself not long before the deadline. It would remove the chance for Detroit to profit off of Skubal before he leaves town.

Technically, the Tigers would get a compensatory draft pick if Skubal signed elsewhere in free agency after the season, but that almost surely wouldn't measure up to the value returned in a trade for a healthy Skubal.

For now, MLB contenders are watching and waiting. They'll want to see how Skubal looks, and then they could even pounce early. The Tigers are so far out of the race that they probably don't have to wait until the deadline buzzer to deal Skubal away. The earlier they deal him, the more they can maximize his value.

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