If the Detroit Tigers ended up trading Tarik Skubal this offseason, they’d be labeled a small-market team by mindset. After years of patient rebuilding, the Tigers have their cornerstone and a roster ready to compete. In fact, Tigers president Scott Harris reportedly “will never believe he can’t sign Skubal.” The pitcher himself has expressed a desire to stay in Detroit. That means there’s still hope he might take a hometown discount. The debate over keeping Skubal in Detroit has reached the point where analyst Jim Bowden is urging A.J. Hinch on what his next move should be.

“If I were the general manager or president or both of the Detroit Tigers, I would sit down with my owner, Chris Illich, and I would say that I recommend that we make an offer of 350 million over 10 years for Tarek Skubal. And I would tell him that Yamamoto got 325, and Gerrit Cole got 324. We have to make Skubal the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history,” Bowden said, speaking on an MLB Network radio segment.

“He’s won the Cy Young two years in a row. He’s everything right about baseball. He’s got great makeup and great competitiveness. He’s great in the clubhouse. He’s a great teammate. He’s an animal on the mound. We need him. He’ll help us with the community. He helps us with charities. He’s everything we want a Tiger to be.”

Well, trading Skubal this winter will make no sense. This was by far the least popular choice among 11 industry insiders on the ESPN panel. One rival executive even summed it up perfectly.

He said, “The whole reason you do all this is to start a season with a potential contender that has an ace. You can’t throw that away before the season starts. How long will it take to get here again?”

If the Tigers were to trade Tarik Skubal for anything less than a gob-smacking return, it would perhaps mean their competitive window would be tighter.

It won’t be easy to call Detroit a contending team without Skubal next season. Amid all the debate around Skubal, the Tigers are reportedly eyeing a reliever who could make the jump to starting pitcher.

The St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley is reportedly attracting interest from several teams, including the Detroit Tigers. However, not as a reliever, but as a potential starter. It’s a fascinating pivot for a player who has made his name as one of the game’s premier relievers.

The Athletic was among the first to report that the Detroit Tigers are exploring the idea of turning the 31-year-old into a starter and slotting him into their rotation. And on the other side, calls in the Bronx for Tarik Skubal are growing louder.

Former Yankee urges the team to go all in for Tarik Skubal

Tarik Skubal is under team control with the Detroit Tigers and won’t hit free agency until 2026. If the Tigers can’t work out an extension after all, he’s expected to be moved in a trade to net future assets. In that case, the $8.2 billion Yankees could seriously consider acquiring him.

Former Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin recently weighed in on this. He said that adding Tarik Skubal could potentially give the team more of an edge than chasing either Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger.

In his November 20 tweet, Maybin explained why making Skubal a priority could pay big dividends. “Tucker and Bellinger will shake up somebody’s offseason, but the move that would take over the entire league is the Yankees going to get Skubal. Tigers clearly don’t want to pay him, or they would have already…. I’m sure they’re trying to justify or convince themselves how it’s probably not smart to pay Skubal what he deserves…. But imagine pairing him with a healthy Sandy Alcantara in the Bronx along with Fried, Cole, and Rodon. That is a playoff nightmare for every lineup in baseball. And I don’t want to hear anything about payroll. This is the Yankees. If you want to win, you find a way to make it happen!”

Tarik Skubal has undoubtedly proven himself as a winner. Most importantly, he performed well in the postseason. It certainly makes him a valuable asset that the Yankees might be wise to pursue.