It's getting late early for the Detroit Tigers, who are running out of time to decide if they will trade left-hander Tarik Skubal before the Aug. 3 deadline.
"The Tigers lost two straight to the Royals and now are 50-56 -- 3.5 games back of Cleveland for the final wild card, with Minnesota, Houston, Seattle and Baltimore also ahead of Detroit," ESPN's Jeff Passan wrote Sunday. "The Tarik Skubal decision is coming. And losing to KC doesn't help their case to keep him."
Here are the latest trade rumors as favorites begin to emerge for the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
"Tampa Bay has a go-for-it mindset, a deep farm system and is expected to be among the most active teams," the New York Post's Joel Sherman reports.
"The Rays have a deep enough farm system to make a deal of this magnitude, and it would be a huge statement by their new ownership group if they could pull it off," The Athletic's Jim Bowden reports.
"I’m not sure if Detroit will trade Skubal, but I do know this: the Brewers have more than enough talent in their farm system to land him if they want to," Bowden adds.
"The club that unnerves everyone is the Dodgers," Sherman adds.
"The Dodgers bulked up in the offseason partly because they view this market as particularly inefficient and want to stay out of it or be sellers. Still, other teams will believe the Dodgers are not just laying in the weeds to big-game hunt only if they have added nothing of 2026 substance by 6:01 p.m. next Monday," Sherman notes.
"As things currently stand, the Dodgers don’t need Skubal. But so much depends upon how they view the health of their rotation," Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday.
"Dave Roberts said today that Shohei Ohtani experienced discomfort in his knee following his last bullpen session on Wednesday. That led to the cancellation of his bullpen session today. Ohtani, still expected to pitch this season. Blake Snell, expected back in August. Tyler Glasnow around Sept. 1. And the Dodgers still have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki, with Edwin Diaz returning on Wednesday to bolster the bullpen.
"That said, the Dodgers are going for a three-peat," Rosenthal added. "They’ve got prospects galore to trade and they know, one way or another, greater payroll restrictions are coming in the next CBA. They cannot simply ignore the possibility of adding Tarik Skubal."
"If Tarik Skubal indeed becomes available, as executives are now predicting, the Dodgers are all in, and have the prized farm system and starting pitching depth to pull it off," USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Friday. "They have nine players in MLB’s Pipeline’s Top 100 List."
Skubal, who missed time this season while recovering from elbow surgery, is 7-5 with a 2.70 ERA in 15 starts.
One thing to keep in mind: the two-time All-Star will be a free agent after the season. That means any club trading for the ace must see him as nothing more than a short-term rental.
And don't forget, the Tigers still harbor playoff aspirations. FanGraphs gives them a 32.% chance of making the postseason so it's entirely possible Skubal ends the 2026 season where he started in: Detroit, Michigan.