What I’m hearing about the Tigers on the eve of the trade deadline

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was the seventh inning of Saturday’s game when Detroit Tigers players started hearing chatter from fans above the visiting dugout. Tarik Skubal was getting traded.

“I pretended it was just some fan talking,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “And in the back of my head, I was like, ‘Ahh, of course.’”

After the game, Tigers teammates learned the news was official. They hugged their ace in the clubhouse and told him goodbye.

Nine hours later, the Tigers were back at the ballpark for a Sunday matinee against the Athletics.

“There’s an element of this that’s a little cold,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “You just got to get back to your routines and get back to playing.”

That’s the odd part of the position the Tigers find themselves in. They went on to beat the Athletics 11-0 on Sunday, completing a dominant three-game series sweep. The Tigers are only 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot, yet they traded their ace.

“We know that we’re definitely not out of it,” Torkelson said. “Trading Skubal is just … You got to get a return for the best pitcher in the world when he’s going to be a free agent. It just makes sense from a business standpoint.”

As noted earlier Sunday, one person with knowledge of the club’s thinking said the Tigers are not committed to a full-blown sell-off just because they traded Skubal. The Tigers are still interested in winning, despite losing Skubal.

But what does that look like? That’s the big question, less than 24 hours before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.

It would be a surprise if the Tigers made any clear-cut “buy” moves. If they continue to sell, Casey Mize, Kenley Jansen and Gleyber Torres are all trade candidates.

“We still have a pretty good team,” Jansen said. “I don’t know what their mindset is — if they’re selling now or if it’s just only Skubal. I don’t know. I’m not going to let that drive me crazy, I can tell you that.”

As the Tigers move forward without Skubal, they have more uncertainty to sift through.

“Ironically, we’re as close to the playoff race as we’ve been in recent months, and yet we know exactly what losing a guy like Tarik Skubal means to our clubhouse and our team,” Hinch said. “But the game moves on.”

Casey Mize is Detroit’s most interesting trade chip

No Tiger was closer to Skubal than Casey Mize, a fellow 2018 draft pick who was called up to the big leagues on the same day as Skubal in the 2020 COVID-19 season. Mize was a No. 1 pick. He was there for every day of Skubal’s rise from a ninth-round obscurity to the best pitcher in the world.

“You could say that would be easier for me to strive for, with the pedigree or whatever, whereas when guys are later-round draft picks, it can be really easy for them to say, ‘Man, I want to be a big leaguer,’” Mize said. “I don’t think that was ever going to be good enough for Tarik.”

Mize was among those who became emotional while discussing the Skubal trade. But as Mize spoke, Jansen bellowed from an end locker: “Skubal is gone. You’re the topic now!”

A long list of suitors is believed to have interest in Mize, including the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays, among others. The Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox had a scouting presence this week at Comerica Park. There are people in the Philadelphia Phillies organization who played a role in drafting Mize out of Auburn.

Mize’s market could grow stronger now that Skubal has been moved. However, Mize is eligible for a qualifying offer after the season’s end, and that will only strengthen the Tigers’ asking price.

“Preparing to pitch Tuesday,” Mize said Sunday morning. “I don’t know if that will be here or elsewhere. I’m still in wait-and-see mode. Still supporting our group, doing what I can here. It’s a weird place to be. … Ready for it to get figured out one way or the other.”

Reinforcements in Jackson Jobe, River Ryan?

Especially if the Tigers trade Mize, it will be interesting to see how Detroit fills its rotation for the rest of the season. Jackson Jobe completed his latest rehab start Sunday in High-A West Michigan, surrendering one earned run and striking out five batters. He threw 69 pitches. Still, the Tigers do not seem inclined to rush Jobe back to the major leagues.

“I think the volume is really the big key,” Hinch said. “We want him to be fully ready to start in the big leagues before we consider it. So, he’s got to still build his pitch count.”

River Ryan, one of three prospects the Tigers acquired for Skubal, could also be of use.

Ryan was sent to Triple-A Toledo on Sunday and is on the injured list with a hamstring issue. But he could be ready to pitch in the major leagues by the end of August. Tommy John surgery set Ryan back after a strong MLB debut in 2024, but, according to TJStats, Ryan has four pitches with a stuff grade of 107 or better. The injury risk is real, but so is Ryan’s upside.

The Tigers scouted Ryan and right-hander Brady Smith heavily this season. They are optimistic about both pitchers.

The latest on an injured Jack Flaherty

Few people can relate to what Skubal is going through now more than Jack Flaherty. Only two years ago, Flaherty was traded from the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline.

“Tarik Skubal is himself and does what he does; he doesn’t have to do anything more,” Flaherty, who signed with the Tigers in February 2025 after finishing the 2024 season with Los Angeles, said Monday. “That doesn’t matter where he went, no matter what happened as part of his career or whatever happens. He doesn’t have to do anything more.”

Under different circumstances, Flaherty would also be a hot topic at this year’s deadline. But he remains on the injured list with right flexor inflammation and is not yet throwing, though he hopes that will change soon.

Flaherty has a 4.59 ERA this season, but his ERA over his past seven starts is 2.67.

Given Flaherty’s injury, he seems unlikely to be dealt unless the Tigers are willing to settle for a bare-minimum return.

“I feel really good,” Flaherty said. “Trying to push them to let me start throwing. We’re very close to that. Things have been good. Just needed to let things calm down a little bit, maybe be a little bit more patient on the front end than I wanted to be, so that the middle and end is better as opposed to being like, ‘I’m good.’ … I’m trying to listen to people smarter than me instead of using emotions.”

The Gleyber Torres conundrum

Torres is also on an expiring deal, and he is not eligible for a qualifying offer. That means if the Tigers don’t trade Torres, they will lose him for nothing.

Given the extreme shortage of right-handed bats on the market, Torres could certainly hold value, but he has played only second base for the Tigers, and though his metrics are improved this season (plus-4 defensive runs saved), he’s far from a nimble fielder at second base.

Torres has been on the injured list twice this season with oblique issues, and he was off to a slow start after returning from the second injury. Torres, though, played well this weekend in Detroit’s sweep of the Athletics. He went 1-for-2 and walked four times in Sunday’s victory.

He entered Sunday worth 1.2 fWAR in only 54 games, an important part of a Tigers lineup that has struggled at times this season.

Torres is a stable, consistent hitter, but he might be a good fit for only a few teams. Which means the Tigers still have plenty to sort out on the eve of the deadline.