You can take Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson off the table. Beyond that, it sounds like the Tigers are open to trading anyone to spark their rebuild, Tarik Skubal included.
According to a rival executive in a story published Tuesday by The Athletic, the Tigers "gave us a blanket that just about everyone is available." Another executive believes the Tigers 'are trying to be opportunistic and extract a big return for Skubal' from buyers that fail to land the top pitchers known to be on the market ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
Skubal, a 25-year-old lefty with ace potential who's under team control through 2026, would typically be untouchable on a rebuilding team. But trading him would allow the Tigers to address a dire need for more impact position players, while drawing from an organizational strength -- something GM Al Avila first raised the possibility of three years ago.
The Tigers are also expected to shop numerous relievers from one of the top bullpens in baseball, headlined by All-Star closer Gregory Soto and left-hander Andrew Chafin.
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It was after the 2019 trade deadline, when the Tigers deepened their pool of young pitching in the Nick Castellanos and Shane Greene trades, that Avila said the club was poised to start trading arms for bats.
“Absolutely," he said. "In fact, we've kicked some of those ideas around already. That is a very viable option and a possibility. Having a good young stable of pitchers is obviously a good place to be, because you can keep the guys you want for your rotation and bullpen, and then make your team better with those kind of trades moving forward."
Either for a lack of offers or a lack of creativity on their own end, Avila and the Tigers never followed through. They hung onto their young arms, many of whom have since been felled by injury, including 2018 first overall pick Casey Mize. Now they're in last place in the AL Central in year six of their rebuild, which was supposed to be over this season.
Indeed, asked about the Tigers' approach to the deadline earlier this month, Avila said, “We’re not a rebuilding team anymore."
"We want to be better than we are right now, but that doesn’t mean that we have to take a step backward," he said. "The step backward is already right now, the beginning of the season and the record we have. We’re going to try to make the team better as we move forward. Whatever that means, whoever we acquire and whatever it takes, we’ll have to consider every option that we have.”
Apparently, that might mean moving the best pitcher in their organization.