Dodgers and Yankees now expected to battle for top player available at MLB trade deadline
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Dodgers and Yankees now expected to battle for top player available at MLB trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Entering Major League Baseball's trade deadline at the beginning of August, many contending teams are hopeful that the Detroit Tigers are going to go in a different direction and finally move on from left-hander Tarik Skubal.
The Tigers have been one of the more disappointing teams in Major League Baseball since he went down, currently 1-9 over their last 10 games and 20-31 on the season, 7.5 games back in the American League Central.
The Central is a rather average division, but the Tigers can't afford to put themselves in too big of a hole.
If the Tigers are out of the playoff picture, there's absolutely no reason to keep Skubal around unless they have a contract in front of him and he signs it. Not taking an extension and not trading him would be one of the worst decisions the Tigers have ever made.
Now, there's an expectation that he could be traded, and if it happens, it seems like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees might battle it out for the left-hander's services.
“Assuming he returns from surgery without a hitch, Skubal would instantly become the best available pitcher and the best available player period at the trade deadline if the Tigers do put him on the market. Every contender -- Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, etc. -- would make a run at him. The bidding war would be fierce,” Mike Axisa wrote.
The Yankees and Dodgers are the two teams that seem to operate on a much different budget and with a different state of mind than any other team in baseball. If both teams want to add a starter of Skubal's caliber, and he's indeed available, the Tigers would be in a very good spot.
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