The Detroit Tigers have an abundance of young talent and are looking ready to take that next step, could they look to make a blockbuster trade to bring in another superstar for the pitching staff?
MLB insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently came up with some trade packages that the Pittsburgh Pirates would “have to weigh” in a potential Paul Skenes deal.
Skenes is a generational young pitching talent and is being wasted on a Pirates team that refuses to spend money to compete with him.
Pittsburgh isn’t in any rush to trade him, but they’d be silly to not consider a club-altering package of prospects that could carry them into the future all over the field.
The 22-year-old pitch is going to get expensive once arbitration starts and they aren’t going to be competing before that happens.
As crazy as it may seem, it might not be a bad idea to trade him. If they were a serious team, they’d pay him and build around him, it just doesn’t seem like it will happen.
The Tigers trade package that Bowden came up with included outfielder Max Clark, shortstop Bryce Rainer, pitcher Jaden Hamm and pitcher Owen Hall.
That is four Top 10 organizational prospects and two within MLB’s top 100.
Clark is the type of prospect that would only get moved in a deal that included a player near the caliber of Skenes. He’s a 20-year-old that has both Gold Glove and Silver Slugger potential.
The five-tool center fielder has posted a .274/.422/.397 slash line with four home runs and seven stolen bases as he continues to get better. He’s drawn 37 walks with just 28 strikeouts.
Rainer is a franchise cornerstone shortstop prospect that also have five-tool potential. He’s slashed .279/.381/.471 wih five home runs and seven stolen bags.
Hamm and Hall are less certain of prospects but both have high ceilings as starting pitchers.
That is a lot to give up for Detroit, but getting back Skenes would make it all worth it. That would give them a rotation of Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty for at least this year and the next.
Skubal does run out of team control after 2026, but that’s when they decide just how much they want to spend on pitching. Skubal will likely set a new record for a pitcher before that number is surpassed by Skenes just a few years later.
