Tigers Trade Cy Young Winner Skubal to Dodgers for Prospects
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- The Tigers traded Skubal to the Dodgers for minor league right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith and outfielder Zyhir Hope, with the deal agreed to late Saturday night.
- Skubal is 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96⅔ innings this season, is a two-time reigning Cy Young winner (2024, 2025), and is set to hit free agency after the year.
- Detroit sits 2½ games back of the final AL wild-card spot, having won the first two games of its series against the Athletics, including an 8-6 victory on Saturday when news of the trade leaked during the game.
- First baseman Spencer Torkelson said players first learned of the deal from fans yelling at the dugout in the sixth inning, and credited the team with keeping focus to win.
- Casey Mize was scratched from his scheduled start this weekend in case he is traded before the Monday deadline; pitcher Mize called the clubhouse "a weird, weird place."
- Top prospect Max Clark, called up Friday, went 5-for-8 with two doubles, a homer, and three RBIs in his first two games as Detroit seeks internal replacements.
- Skubal started both Game 5 division-series losses the past two years (2024 vs. Cleveland, 2025 vs. Seattle) and said Saturday it hurt that he couldn't deliver Detroit's first World Series title since 1984; the Dodgers visit Detroit Aug. 28-30.
Why it matters: Detroit traded a Cy Young-caliber ace whose 2.79 ERA led its staff and got back only prospects, with Mize scratched before the Monday deadline signaling the teardown may not be finished. The Tigers' 2½-game wild-card deficit and Skubal's looming free agency left the front office choosing long-term capital over a 2025 run.
