The Rays are expected to be active at the trade deadline, and the club is reportedly in the mix for the top starting pitcher on the market. Bob Nightengale of USA Today notes Tampa Bay is pursuing Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post also has the Rays as a contender for Skubal, along with the Cubs and Braves.
The cost-conscious Rays are unlikely to be part of the sweepstakes for Skubal’s services in the offseason. Trading for the ace now would give them a few months of the two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner’s services at a relatively affordable price. Skubal won a record-setting arbitration hearing that awarded him $32MM this year. Tampa Bay has also checked in on Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte and is in the market for catching upgrades.
The Rays built out the rotation by converting relievers Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour into starters. The transitions have gone well, but won’t preclude the club from adding a starting pitcher, especially as the innings add up for the unit. Jax is already at 70 frames, just a dozen short of his career high as a big leaguer. Lefty Shane McClanahan is at 86 innings. He didn’t pitch at all the past two seasons due to multiple arm injuries. There isn’t much depth behind the five current rotation options with Steven Matz and Jesse Scholtens on the IL.
Skubal has been surprisingly homer-prone since returning from elbow surgery. Aside from the long balls, he looks like his normal self. The lefty has a 44:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in six starts off the IL. After relatively modest workloads, Skubal matched a season high with 96 pitches in his first outing of July.
The Tigers moving Skubal seemed likely at the end of May after a three-game sweep against the White Sox dropped their record to 22-38. Detroit then put together an above-.500 June and ripped off seven wins in the first eight games of July. The club is now 3 1/2 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the underperforming American League.
Even if Detroit falls out of the race, it’ll take a major haul to land Skubal. Tampa Bay might not be willing to part with the necessary prospect capital, but as Anthony Franco pointed out in the Rays’ trade deadline outlook, the organization did offer Junior Caminero and Carson Williams for Shohei Ohtani back in 2023. Just like Skubal, Ohtani was a rental on the verge of free agency. MLB Pipeline ranked the Rays as a top 10 farm system heading into the season. Tampa Bay restocked in the winter with a series of trades that brought in catcher Caden Bodine, outfielder Jacob Melton, and right-hander Anderson Brito, among others.
Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel, Imagn Images
