Yankees can kiss Tarik Skubal trade rumors goodbye after failing to bury Tigers

For a while, the rumor mill made it seem as if Tarik Skubal to the New York Yankees was gaining steam. The first step in coming to a resolution in the Skubal situation has always been the Detroit Tigers' place in the standings. Going into the beginning of last week, the Yankees had a prime chance to bury the Tigers by virtue of the three-game set between the clubs between June 29 and July 1. Instead, they laid an egg and got swept.

The Tigers dropped their very next game following the sweep, but then they ripped off four victories in a row to pull within 3.5 games of the final Wild Card spot and four games back of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox. You might be able to chalk that up as a mirage, except there's an argument to be made that Detroit is better than its 43-50 record suggests by virtue of having a +23 run differential, the fourth-best mark in the American League.

How does Tarik Skubal feel about all of this? If we take his comments at face value, he's fired up to see the Tigers jumping back into the playoff picture and wants the team to put the pedal to the metal and operate as aggressive buyers at the trade deadline.

“We had some unlucky losses, beat ourselves up a bit, some injury stuff, including myself. Hopefully the decision-makers see that we’re a very good team and it’s not sell at the deadline — it’s add … I think we’re a really good team, and there’s so many guys in this room that have proven that we can go on a run like we did in ’24," Skubal told Detroit-area radio station 97.1 The Ticket.

Yankees' Tarik Skubal dream seems to be dying just as they're proving they need him the most

The naysayers who have beaten the drum against a Tarik Skubal trade have made the case that the strength of New York's rotation places him as a luxury in the face of much greater needs. The counterargument to that has always been that the benefit of building overwhelming strength in the starting rotation, which is the best way to make noise in October.

However, since June 15, the cracks have started to form. Will Warren has posted a 6.75 ERA in his four starts since that date. Ryan Weathers has been better, but a 4.00 ERA over his last four starts is nothing to write home about. Carlos Rodón has landed on the IL with elbow inflammation.

Max Fried's return is still a long way off, Elmer Rodriguez has not performed well in spot starts, and, though he's been moved to the bullpen, Carlos Lagrange is no longer an option with an injury of his own.

What would be really nice would be to have a co-ace alongside Cam Schlittler to anchor the starting rotation. Skubal would have been the best of the best in that regard. But now, it looks like that's off the table, and the dream has died in part due to the Yankees' inability to take care of business against the Tigers. What a shame!

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