Trade rumors: Skubal, Angels, Yankees, starting pitchers

While there’s no official start to the summer trade season, we can expect MLB’s rumor mill to shift into high gear now that July has arrived.

Of course, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal remains the biggest Trade Deadline domino, and Tuesday's gem against the Yankees was a reminder of why.

Skubal took the mound at Yankee Stadium and looked as good as he has since he underwent left elbow surgery on May 6, striking out nine batters with no walks and allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit over six innings.

With a little more than a month to go before the Trade Deadline, here's a look at the latest on Skubal, as well as some of the other news and rumors circulating around MLB.

Skubal posts best start since surgery; Tigers enter July at 37-49

Skubal's strong start finished off a 15-11 June for the Tigers, a major improvement after they went 6-22 in May. However, even with its turnaround over the last few weeks, Detroit is still facing a grim reality. The 37-49 club is 6 1/2 games from a playoff spot, which means it remains far more likely than not that Skubal will be dealt.

“They have to move Skubal; there’s no way around it,” an American League executive told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand earlier this week. “They will set that franchise back 10 years if they don’t. He’s gone at the end of the year regardless, and they can pull Major League assets back.”

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman heard something similar from a rival executive who said it would be “asinine” if the Tigers didn’t trade Skubal.

So where might he land? As Heyman noted in an article for the New York Post (subscription required) Wednesday morning, the two-time Cy Young winner’s potential market remains hazy at this point.

The Dodgers’ strong farm system and typically aggressive approach would seemingly make them the favorites, but they are believed “not in” at the moment, Heyman reports. Of course, that could change if injured starters Blake Snell and/or Tyler Glasnow don’t return in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, a Yankees source characterized the club’s chances of landing Skubal as such: “No chance. None.”

Heyman named the Brewers, Cubs, Phillies, Padres, Rays, Braves and Red Sox as other possibilities.

In any case, Skubal understands that Tuesday could have been one of his final starts in a Tigers uniform.

"That’s the reality, right? I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t [crossed my mind], but I can’t let that impact my day-to-day and who I am on the mound," Skubal said after Tuesday’s game. "If I let that creep in, it's just another distraction. I really don't care. My job is to go out there and compete and win baseball games for the Detroit Tigers, and I'm gonna keep doing that until I'm told I'm on another team."

How will Angels’ front-office change impact Trade Deadline?

The Angels have a chance to be one of this year’s most impactful Trade Deadline sellers, but after parting ways with general manager Perry Minasian and installing John Mozeliak as interim GM last week, it remains unclear how they’ll approach the summer trade market.

Reid Detmers, in particular, is a major trade asset. The left-hander, who will turn 27 on July 8 and is controllable through 2028, has been inconsistent in his career, but he’s shown frontline potential at times. He’s been especially dominant lately, recording a 2.42 ERA with 51 strikeouts, 12 walks and a .150 batting average against over his past seven starts. He also has a sparkling 3.03 expected ERA -- tied for 11th best among pitchers who have faced at least 250 batters -- behind his actual ERA of 3.88 on the year.

Fellow starter José Soriano (controllable through 2028) and outfielder Jo Adell (2027) could also bring back significant returns.

However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported on June 21 -- prior to the club’s front office change -- that owner Arte Moreno did not want to trade Detmers, Soriano or Adell.

That would fit with the team’s usual M.O. With Moreno as the ultimate arbiter, the Halos typically have refrained from making sweeping changes that might have benefited the team in the long run. Most notably, Moreno reportedly balked at an offer from the Rays in 2023 that would have sent Shohei Ohtani -- a pending free agent at the time -- to Tampa Bay for Junior Caminero and Carson Williams. Ohtani went on to sign with the Dodgers that offseason, and the Angels still haven’t made the playoffs since 2014.

Mozeliak told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal on Tuesday that he’s still formulating a Trade Deadline strategy, but he offered a hint at which way the organization might be leaning when asked if he thought the Angels needed to rebuild.

“No. I don’t think in this market you need to do that," Mozeliak said. This team has resources. Now it’s just making sure we deploy them correctly.”

Judge ‘weeks’ away from reimaging as Yankees’ offense continues to struggle

The Yankees’ offense really misses Aaron Judge. The Bronx Bombers fared well initially after Judge went on the IL with a fractured rib, but they closed out June with six straight losses and a 2-9 record while averaging 2.64 runs scored per game in their final 11 games of the month.

While Judge is improving, his return date is still up in the air. New York won’t be able to lay out the next steps for Judge until he undergoes reimaging to determine how his rib is healing, and manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that the slugger may still be a “couple weeks” away from those tests. That would seemingly put Judge toward the latter end of the four-to-six-week reimaging timetable the team provided when it announced Judge’s diagnosis on June 4.

The Yankees expect Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon back from the IL on Friday, but if they don’t see notable improvement on the offensive front before the All-Star break and the Rays continue to distance themselves from New York, it could impact how aggressively the Yanks pursue a bat at the Trade Deadline -- especially if Judge continues to progress slowly.

Catcher remains the most logical area for the Yankees to upgrade, as their backstops have combined for a 46 wRC+ -- tied for the lowest mark in MLB. Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, a pending free agent with a 164 wRC+ over 147 plate appearances in 2026, has been frequently mentioned as a possible target.

The Yanks could also look to address the left side of their infield, which has been a weak spot for years now, but finding an upgrade there could be more difficult.

Trade value soaring for pair of pending free-agent starters

Skubal isn't the only Cy Young winner -- or the only Detroit starter -- likely to garner considerable trade interest with free agency looming. There's also Giants left-hander Robbie Ray, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner, and Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, the '18 No. 1 overall Draft pick.

Both capped off June with exemplary performances this week, with Ray holding the Braves to one unearned run over eight innings on Sunday and Mize striking out 10 Yankees over seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball the following day.

Ray posted a 1.36 ERA over five starts in June and has pitched to a 3.56 ERA in 49 games (48 starts) since the beginning of 2025. Mize has recorded a 2.63 ERA over 12 starts this year and has one of the best xERAs (2.81) in the game thanks to a 26.9% strikeout rate and a 34.7% hard-hit rate, both of which would be career bests.