Tarik Skubal, who won the American League Cy Young twice and struck out 186 batters in 158.2 innings in 2026, was not enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to trade pitching prospect Logan Henderson for him.
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In an interview with The Show with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman, Mark Attanasio, owner of the Brewers, defended the team.
“This team was built, not bought,” the Brewers’ owner defended Skubal trade rejection. “It’s critical to look at how we got here, and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being very careful about how many prospects we gave up.”
The Brewers captured the NL Central title with a 103-59 record while holding on to Logan Henderson and Jesús Made (MLB Pipeline’s top overall prospect), while keeping outfielder Luis Lara via a seven-year extension in June.
Skubal would’ve been a rental, while Made and Lara bring years of cheap control.
Shortstop Jesús Made, 19, hit .271 with 14 homers and 37 steals at Double-A Biloxi, and outfielder Luis Lara, 21, debuted July 7 with Gold Glove defense.
The conservatism ran up against a clear demand from the Detroit Tigers organization. Multiple sources indicated that the Tigers were looking for a controllable big-league pitcher, and Henderson was one of the most requested names.
The reason Henderson drew such interest was due to him blanking the Dodgers.
In a 5-1 victory on May 22, he pitched five shutout innings and struck out seven batters, while pitching seven innings and allowing one run in the 6-2 game.
Speaking on The Show, Attanasio recalled pressing general manager Matt Arnold late in talks.
“I think I might have said, ‘Are you sure, Matt?’ I think best and final wasn’t best and final,” Attanasio said.
This doubt has some weight behind it.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers received Skubal in exchange for outfielder Zyhir Hope, right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith, the Milwaukee Brewers were offering three hitters, including shortstop Luis Peña, MLB Pipeline’s 18th-ranked prospect.
Despite the sweep, Attanasio plotted out the other route to take on The Show.
“If we had not won that Game 4, I would have seen Skubal and Yamamoto again. And we could have been looking at Game 7.”
This worry came after Game 1 of the 2026 NLDS when Tarik Skubal pitched six dominant innings yielding one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. A second turn alongside right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto would have loomed large.
This is why Skubal attracted such attention.
He put together an ERA of 2.72, ERA+ of 155, and a WHIP of 0.96 through 26 starts despite being unavailable from April 29 to June 13 because of elbow surgery.
The Dodgers received the production they expected out of him early on. He was 5-2 with an ERA of 2.61 through 10 starts before striking out seven while pitching six strong innings against the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS, allowing just one run and two hits.
Meanwhile, the Brewers came through as a team, even without their ace pitcher, Jacob Misiorowski, who didn’t pitch past the 5th inning in either of his two postseason starts.
The bullpen stepped in, allowing only one earned run across their first five postseason games, and the hitters created runs without relying on home runs, making a player like Skubal an extra rather than a necessity.
Skubal is now a free agent and the top pitcher on the market. With CBA negotiations ongoing and owners pushing for a salary cap, teams must decide whether to sign him now or wait.
Skubal has kept mum about his plans.
According to MLB.com, in an interview after Game 4 elimination, he said, “I’m not going to comment on my future really at all. Today sucks, you know, and that’s kind of where my head’s at.”
His frustrations have got into his October legacy.
Skubal has played in three consecutive postseasons and posted an ERA of 2.13 in eight starts, but he’s gone deeper in this NLCS than he did when he was in the ALDS with the Tigers in 2024 and 2025.
By not making any big deals that would deplete the prospects on their team, the current performance of Milwaukee is the epitome of management restraint. They unseated the high-spending Los Angeles Dodgers with a mostly homegrown squad to go against the Tampa Bay Rays in this season’s World Series.