With the Tigers doing their level best to throw themselves out of contention before the end of the first half, it is hardly surprising that Tarik Skubal's name has already come up in trade rumors. Not only is Skubal one of the best pitchers in baseball in his contract year, but it is extremely clear that Detroit isn't going to be able to keep him on a long-term deal. Even with his recent elbow procedure, you can bet that suitors will be lining up, and one team that COULD make sense is the Atlanta Braves.
Look, any team could use a pitcher like Skubal. The guy has won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. There are maybe half a dozen pitchers in baseball that are even in the same conversation as him. Assuming that the innovative procedure on his elbow allows for a quick recovery, there are few rental targets that could be more appealing than Skubal.
While we know that the Braves' pitching depth has been tested and will continue to be for a while, that doesn't mean that Atlanta will push hard to acquire Skubal. In fact, as the somewhat infamous MLB insider Jim Bowden recently pointed out, Skubal doesn't actually fit the mold of what the Braves try to do with any acquisition, let alone those made at the trade deadline.
Tarik Skubal would look great in the Braves' rotation, but that doesn't mean a trade makes sense
While Bowden has a long and storied history of questionably sourced trade rumors and absurd contract projections, he has a point here. Bowden correctly points out that the Braves' rotation is already in a good spot, and the unit is likely to improve once Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach are back. If Atlanta were to make an all-in move, would Anthopoulos really do so for a rental starter with Scott Boras as his agent?
Now, if the Braves had a prayer of extending Skubal at all, that would be a different story. The likely massive trade package that would be required to acquire Skubal could be defensible if it resulted in adding a frontline starter for years to come. However, there is almost zero chance that Boras would let that happen, and there is a good reason why, other than Ha-Seong Kim, Atlanta doesn't have very many Boras clients on their roster.
Is Anthopoulos willing to be aggressive at the trade deadline? Of course, but that aggression rarely comes at the absolute top of the market. AA is particularly good at understanding what the team actually needs and then finding novel solutions to those problems. It is much more likely that Anthopoulos would make a cheaper deal for a starter that has attributes the Braves like and can work with than emptying their newly refurbished farm system for two plus months of Skubal.
Add us as a preferred source on Google