Padres Linked to Best Pitcher in Baseball to Replace Dylan Cease

As nearly every team in Major League Baseball gets ready for the offseason, the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres are two of the most interesting to watch out for. 

The Padres have a clear reason to continue to try to win games, especially after moving on from Leo De Vries in a deal to acquire Mason Miller at last year’s trade deadline. For the Tigers, a team that should’ve won the American League Central but had a historic collapse and fell in the ALDS once again, they also have to ponder whether they want to pay Tarik Skubal what he’s looking for or move on from him now before they lose him for nothing. Some believe the Tigers will trade him, and if they do, many teams around Major League Baseball should be interested. 

When looking at potential landing spots for Skubal, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report named the San Diego Padres as one. 

“Can you ever rule A.J. Preller out when it comes to making a major trade? Beyond the fact that he is the most aggressive executive in the sport today, the Padres are going to have a need in their starting rotation…

“If the Padres hadn’t traded Leo De Vries to acquire Mason Miller, he could have easily headlined this type of trade. As is, MLB Pipeline says the Padres have two top-100 prospects in catcher Ethan Salas and the recently-drafted Kruz Schoolcraft. It’s unclear if San Diego would be able to put together the type of trade package it would take to land Skubal,” he wrote.

What Could Tarik Skubal Cost Financially?

The rumors have started to circulate about the Detroit Tigers potentially moving on from Skubal after Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the two sides are very far off on a deal. Heyman went as far as to say that the deal is about $250 million apart. 

“The Tigers and superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal have a lot of work to do if they’re going to bridge quite possibly the biggest gap in MLB negotiating history: an estimated quarter of a billion dollars. Yep, that’s not a misprint. It’s close to $250 million.

“Word is, a year ago the Tigers offered Skubal well less than the $170M deal signed a bit later by Garrett Crochet. While there’s no belief Skubal named his price, his obvious comp is Gerrit Cole, who signed six years ago for a record $324M, and with prices up (Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander $43.33M a year, Juan Soto $51M), the baseline ask for Skubal is seen as $400M,” he reported.

Do the Padres Want to Give Up Another Top Prospect?

The question will come down to whether the San Diego Padres want to move on from top prospects once again and try to continue to go all in. With the current players on the roster, it doesn’t seem like the Padres have much of a choice.

The past few years haven’t ended well for the Padres when it matters most, and there’s a possibility that they’ll lose Nestor Cortes, Dylan Cease, and Michael King, but that gives them even more of a reason to go out and land someone like Skubal if he really is available. Ultimately, however, the Detroit Tigers will have the final say on that.

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