Tigers 'super thankful' for Skubal's contributions amid emotional trade reactions

WEST SACRAMENTO -- The sun had set over Sutter Health Park on Saturday night by the time the shouting began.

Fans sitting near the Tigers’ first-base dugout at the Athletics’ home park were the ones to break the news. Detroit was sending star left-hander Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade.

Some Tigers, including first baseman Spencer Torkelson, shook it off. At first.

“Honestly for me, I just pretended like it was just some fan talking,” Torkelson said. “But in the back of my head, it was like, ‘Ah. Of course.’”

Reality was setting in for a Detroit ballclub that must learn to live without Skubal, the 2024 and 2025 American League Cy Young Award winner and the ace of the club’s talented rotation. The news indicates that the 53-58 Tigers are open for business ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, even after back-to-back wins have put them just 2 1/2 games out of an AL Wild Card spot.

“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,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “But the game moves on. It’s a harsh reality of what’s at stake.”

Starter Casey Mize, who was scratched from Friday’s start with trade rumors swirling, knows he might be next. Mize reiterated before Sunday’s series finale in West Sacramento that he and the Tigers are in a “weird place,” and that might be an understatement.

“We’ve played really good baseball the last couple days,” Mize said. “We trade our best player. It says we’re 2 1/2 back, but obviously there’s a lot of teams still to [surpass].”

With Skubal headed for free agency after the season and the Tigers evidently viewing an extension as unlikely, president of baseball operations Scott Harris decided to get what he could in return for the club’s ace.

That return included a pair of Top 100 prospects from the Dodgers’ loaded system, but neither outfielder Zyhir Hope (No. 25) nor right-hander River Ryan (No. 68) is in a position to help the Tigers right away. Ryan, who was optioned to Triple-A Toledo and is rehabbing a hamstring injury, is the closest to reaching the Majors, but he can’t make up for Skubal’s elite production.

Skubal made 156 career starts for the Tigers between the regular season and postseason since making his MLB debut in 2020. He reached his peak after returning from a flexor injury midway through 2023, and was at the forefront of the Tigers’ playoff rotations in 2024 and ’25, posting a 2.04 ERA in six postseason starts with 56 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.

“Super thankful for what he’s been able to lead us into over the last couple years,” Mize said. “We don’t get anywhere near to what we’ve done without Tarik Skubal, and I hope our fan base is appreciative of that, even if it maybe didn’t end the way that everyone wanted it to.”

Shipping Skubal to the powerhouse Dodgers midway through a season with high expectations certainly wasn’t the grand finale Skubal and the Tigers would have wanted. Speaking to reporters after news of the trade broke on Saturday night, Skubal was overcome with emotion and grateful for the organization he came up with.

“This club never stopped believing in me,” Skubal said. “Kept rolling me back out there every fifth day when I probably didn’t deserve to be [out there]. That’s something that I’ll never take for granted.”

Despite Saturday’s 8-6 win over the A’s, the mood in the Tigers’ clubhouse was subdued as Skubal packed his bags and said his goodbyes. Mize, who was drafted first overall in 2018 -- the same year the Tigers picked Skubal in the ninth round -- admitted the news was emotional for everyone involved.

“I’m going to miss being his teammate,” Mize said. “I knew that would happen eventually one day, whether it be at the end of the year or now, but it’s still tough to deal with.”

But as Hinch put it before his club took the field on Sunday, “the season’s not over.” While continuing to process the loss of Skubal and wondering what’s next, the Tigers still feel like they can compete.

“We are going to miss Tarik, and we have a ton of respect for him,” Hinch said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win the next 51 games to try to make the playoffs.”