Tigers to face a tricky Tarik Skubal question that has no right answer

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Tigers to face a tricky Tarik Skubal question that has no right answer originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Detroit Tigers are not having a good season at all. At 20-26, they're only 4.5 games out of the AL Central lead, but there is real concern they can't turn things around.

With a few key players on the injured list, with Tarik Skubal the headliner, it's not a surprise that there are some tricky questions the Tigers are going to have to answer this year.

One of those questions involves Skubal, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale presented this tricky question to the Tigers in the wake of the injury update on the Tigers' ace.

"Now that two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is expected to return to the Tigers before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, would it make sense for them to trade him if they're out of the race?" Nightengale questioned.

This is a difficult question for the Tigers, and unfortunately, there might not be a right answer for Detroit with this Skubal trade conundrum.

Tigers' tricky Tarik Skubal question has no right answer​

Should the Tigers trade Tarik Skubal? That question will be the talk of the MLB world leading up to the trade deadline if the Tigers are out of the race by then.

If they're still within striking distance, the Tigers likely won't trade Skubal. But if they're out of it, then this question becomes a lot more realistic.

The theory of trading Skubal makes a lot of sense. Instead of playing out his 2026 season on a Tigers squad that's likely to miss the playoffs, he could be shipped off to a contender to bring back a king's ransom of prospects to prepare for the future.

However, there would be significant fan backlash for trading the team's best player. Skubal will become a free agent after 2026, and there's a good chance he leaves in free agency.

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To lose the last few months with Skubal on the roster would be a sad result for Tigers fans. Even if the return makes a trade worth it on paper, the emotions of such a deal would be heartbreaking for Tigers fans.

There's no winning for the Tigers when it comes to a Skubal trade. They either keep him amid a failing playoff bid and risk losing him for nothing, or trade him while breaking the hearts of the fanbase.

This tricky Skubal trade question does not have a single right answer. There are downsides to every angle possible.

The only way to avoid such a question is for Detroit to rebound and be in contention come August. But that's easier said than done without Skubal to help get them there.

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