The Milwaukee Brewers have been the best team in baseball for more than a month, but no one is ready to predict a World Series berth. That could change if the Brewers swing a blockbuster deal with the Detroit Tigers to acquire Tarik Skubal.
ESPN's Paul Hembekides proposed an intriguing mock trade that would land the two-time Cy Young winner in Milwaukee in exchange for the Brewers' Nos. 5 and 6 prospects, as well as an MLB-ready pitcher prepared to slot directly into the Tigers' rotation.
Is that package enough to get a deal over the line?
Brewers make rare all-in move for Tarik Skubal in mock trade
Hembekides' proposal, in its entirety, looks like this:
Why the Detroit Tigers make this trade
The idea in any Skubal deal, from a Tigers perspective, is pretty simple: Move one of the best pitchers in baseball, who's in the final year of his contract and likely leaving Detroit, rather than lose him for nothing.
But what are teams willing to part with for a half-season of Skubal? (Or, if you're the Dodgers or Yankees, to make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball.)
The Tigers could do a lot worse than this.
Luis Lara is the No. 91 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. The 21-year-old outfielder has experienced a power surge this year that dramatically raises his ceiling. Fischer is just outside the top 100 as baseball's fifth-ranked third base prospect and is a power hitter likely to move quickly through the minors.
Crow, 25, has made four starts for Milwaukee this year and projects as back-end starter.
Grading this Tarik Skubal mock trade for the Brewers
The easy comparison here is Milwaukee's blockbuster deal for C.C. Sabathia in 2008. Skubal won't pitch seven complete games down the stretch like Sabathia did, but he could have a similarly legendary impact if he gets The Crew to the World Series.
Skubal is nearing a return after undergoing minimally invasive elbow surgery last month, though there's no reason to think he won't return to the form that won him back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards in 2024 and 2025.
Running out Skubal for Game 1, this year's potential NL Cy Young winner Jacob Misorowski in Game 2 and breakout star Kyle Harrison for Game 3 would give the Brewers a chance in any series — even against the Dodgers in the NLCS or, dare we say, the American League representative in the World Series?
Giving up Lara and Fischer would hurt, but the top farm system in baseball would still be flush with elite prospects. If Milwaukee doesn't win the championship, the move would be considered a failure — and a risky one at that.
But the Brewers have seemingly peaked in the postseason as a contender that doesn't have enough to win the whole thing.
This trade would signal to all of Major League Baseball that Milwaukee is willing to take a leap. And it would prove to Brewers fans that competing isn't enough — winning is the ultimate end goal.
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