The MLB Trade Deadline is now just over one week away, and the biggest question on the minds of Detroit Tigers fans is what kind of fate will befall ace starter Tarik Skubal, who has been heavily embroiled in trade rumors despite his insisting that he prefers to remain in the Motor City.
The Tigers, who defeated the Kansas City Royals on Friday evening in what may have been Skubal’s potential last appearance wearing the Old English D, would like to get a contract done with their back to back Cy Young Award winner.
However, Skubal acknowledged the possibility that his time in Detroit could have reached an end.
“That might be a reality,” Skubal said on Thursday. “But, also, five days later is another start for me at home.”
He then continued by saying that while his fate isn’t in his control, he was focused on delivering a clutch performance.
“That stuff is out of my control,” he said. “I am going to do my best to put our team in a position to win a baseball game tomorrow. That’s all I can ask myself to do.”
Detroit Tigers Pitcher Tarik Skubal Wants To Stay With His Current Team
Meanwhile, Skubal reiterated that his preference is to remain with the Tigers through the Deadline, which is on August 3.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think we have a chance to win a World Series. I’ve said that since spring training and that’s never changed. That belief in this team has never changed. We put ourselves in a tough situation, but I think we’ve come out of it playing really good baseball. Going into spring training, the whole offseason, I’ve never been more motivated to win a World Series for this city and for this team that drafted me in 2018 and helped me develop.
“That’s always been the goal and that won’t change until I am on a different team.”
Tarik Skubal Admits He Could Have Handled Things Differently
Looking back, Skubal said he wishes he had taken a different approach to his offseason injury, adding that his arbitration hearing may have played a subconscious role in delaying further testing.
“If I could go back, I probably should have got an MRI in January and hammered it out to where I was done with it in the offseason,” Skubal said earlier in the week. “But there were also other factors in play. I was going through arbitration. The decision by the organization to take me to court, I think that probably had some impact subconsciously.”
“I think it’s just hindsight,” he said. “It’s just common sense. I thought we were trending in the right direction through the whole process. I had a hiccup in January. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was just some different soreness. I’d never dealt with any of that before. But we were trending in the right way.”
Skubal underwent a non-invasive procedure to remove a loose body from his throwing arm. During his absence in May, the Tigers won just six games.
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