BREAKING NEWS: What the Detroit Tigers Have To Sell at the Deadline…

As the end of July nears, a conversation that is all too familiar to Detroit Tigers fans begins. “Who is getting moved at the deadline?”

Prior to the All-Star break, the Tigers strung together an 8-2 stretch, while the offense put up significantly better numbers than they had most of the season.

Riley Greene has blossomed into an All-Star, Colt Keith is looking like the player we were promised, and the rotation continued to be the backbone of this team.

However, the Tigers entered the break three games below .500, 12 games back in the AL Central, and seven games back in the Wild Card. While some type of a run to the playoffs is possible, it’s highly unlikely.

FanGraphs gives Detroit a 10.3% chance of reaching the postseason, so moving a few pieces makes the most sense.

Of course, there are different levels to this label of “seller.” For the Tigers, there is not going to be another rebuild in 2024. Instead, moving out expiring contracts and bullpen pieces is the likely route. Oh yeah, and I guess we need to have the Skubal Discussion.

The Tigers’ Tarik Skubal Discussion

I’ll start by saying I would not trade Tarik Skubal at this deadline, and I highly doubt the Tigers will either. I understand the reasons why they might – his value is high, he has two and a half years of team control remaining, the Tigers need bats – but you have to get fair value in return, and that’s going to be tough.

Trading one of the best players in baseball is never easy. The package it should take to get Skubal is going to be so rich that only a couple of teams could pull it off.

The Tigers have enough control that they do not need to force a trade in the next two weeks and should not settle for anything less than a king’s ransom.