In a word: No.

There’s been a lot said about the Tarik Skubal trade, even by me. I even did a separate post about potential landing spots and trade packages leading up to the deadline. So, when I look back at the return the Tigers got for Skubal, I have no reaction other than to say that Detroit got fleeced. This isn’t a slight to Zyhir Hope. I think he is a really, really good player – and apparently, that is who the Tigers coveted. So, they got their guy. That’s great.

But my question is why not aim higher? There were reports that other interested teams didn’t even pursue with their best offers because they knew that Skubal preferred to be in Los Angeles, so teams may have held back for a rental. But, in my opinion, a rental of ANY kind is worth it if it wins you a championship, and that’s what all of this is for. For teams like Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Atlanta, Skubal would’ve made the difference between contender and title. I understand Milwaukee not wanting to give up baseball’s top prospect in Jusus Made, but Milwaukee’s package reportedly did include their #3, #4 and #5 prospects, Luis Lara, Jett Williams and Josh Adamczewski. I honestly think this alone was a better package for Skubal than what the Dodgers got away with.

As I said in my post prior to the deadline about the Skubal market:

If I’m naming the price for the Tigers, a deal is absolutely not getting done without Josue De Paula.

I still believe that’s where the conversation should’ve started and ended. In talking about it with friends, I also would’ve accepted a package being centered around Mike Sirota. The fact that both of those guys are still in Dodger blue feels like robbery to me.

Maybe Skubal’s preferred destination was Los Angeles, and maybe Detroit wanted to do right by their superstar ace, but at the end of the day, this is a business, and if he wants to be in Los Angeles, he’ll get there anyway. Your responsibility as an organization is to get the best offer possible in return for YOUR club. Even a rental can be the stuff of legends. Remember Sabathia’s UNREAL second-half run with the Brewers in 2008? A 1.65 ERA in 17 starts.

Like I said, for me, the conversation begins and ends with De Paula and Sirota. Yes, the Dodgers’ system is loaded, but De Paula and Sirota are in another gear. Zyhir Hope is the first of the next tier. Still potentially great, but if I’m giving you generational, you give me generational potential in return. If the Dodgers say no, I hang up the phone. The Tigers reportedly did it with the Yankees – they picked up the phone, said we want Lombard Jr., the Yankees said no, end of discussion. But the Tigers didn’t say no to Zhyir Hope. They also returned RHP River Ryan and RHP Brady Smith.

Smith is a high-upside 21-year-old with plenty of potential, but River Ryan? An oft-injured rookie who will be 28 on August 17th. If the Tigers really wanted Zyhir Hope, the rest of the deal could’ve been better. I suggested Emmet Sheehan, or maybe Justin Wrobleski who, yes, just started the All-Star game, but with the addition of Skubal, it now looks like there might not be room for Wrobleski in the postseason rotation. Ask for SS Emil Morales who’s taken huge leaps this season, ask for an OF like James Tibbs III, since there’s a log jam in the outfield in LA, or Jackson Ferris, one of LA’s top pitching prospects. Brady Smith may have high upside, but he barely cracked the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects (#27). Given the fact that he is already up to #15 in the Tigers system, it could’ve just been a symptom of a crowded farm system.

Point being, I feel as though the Detroit Tigers could’ve gotten a ton more than they did. I get it, they wanted to move quickly to avoid a Shohei Ohtani situation and get a good return for a guy they were sure wasn’t coming back. But they rushed it. They could have forced the Dodgers hand by using other offers as leverage. Maybe telling LA that they were being offered 3, 4, and 5 from Milwaukee would’ve put the Dodgers’ feet to the fire to sweeten the pot. Who knows? The Tigers could’ve at least tried! Heck, personally, I think Detroit got a better relative return for Casey Mize than they did for Skubal. They received San Diego’s #2 prospect in Kash Mayfield and another lefty arm for pitching depth.

Still – I go back to the Milwaukee offer. Luis Lara is a highlight machine who is already making a name for himself defensively with the big club. Jett Williams offers plus speed and excellent defensive versatility, able to play all over the diamond. Josh Adamczewski is a high-OBP outfielder with a low chase-rate. That return (in my opinion), blows LA’s out of the water.

If the Tigers are happy with the pieces they got back in the Tarik Skubal trade, that’s really all that matters. I just think this whole process serves as a cautionary tale. Wait for the best offer, use leverage. Do right by YOUR franchise. Even if LA was never going to part with its top 2 prospects, I firmly believe the Tigers could’ve gotten a better offer, and more likely than not, Skubal would’ve still ended up in Los Angeles anyway. There are rumblings, however faint, that Skubal DOES want to return to Detroit and finish he career with the Tigers. Those rumors conflict DIRECTLY with reports that Skubal preferred to be traded to the Dodgers, and I’ll believe his return when I see it, but let’s pretend that IS true and Skubal is coming back. Don’t you owe it to him to give him the best team possible to comeback to?

Even if I hear directly from the horse’s mouth (the proverbial horse in this case being Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg) that this is the EXACT return that the team wanted, I will forever believe they bungled this deal. The irony is that since the Skubal trade, the Dodgers are scuffling and the Tigers are playing well, finding themselves firmly in the race for not just an AL Wild Card spot, but the AL Central crown.

Baseball’s funny, isn’t it?