Last week when Major League Baseball announced the results of voting for its annual Cy Young Awards, to honor the best pitcher in each league, it was hardly a surprise when the American League winner was declared â for the second year in a row, it was left-hander Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers.
The 29-year-old Skubal was the first back-to-back Cy Young winner since Jacob deGrom, then of the New York Mets, won the National League award in 2018 and 2019, but the first in the American League since 1999 and 2000 when Boston Red Sox legend Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez won the honor.
Now, according to a former general manager for two major league clubs, the Red Sox have an opportunity to add another back-to-back Cy Young winner â Skubal. The Red Sox already have a certified ace in lefty Garrett Crochet, who placed second to Skubal in this year’s Cy Young voting.
Red Sox Proposed Trade Package
Adding Skubal to their rotation would give the Red Sox what would appear to be the most devastating one-two punch in baseball, and elevate them to immediate World Series contenders.
With Skubal pitching on his final year of arbitration eligibility â with a projected 2026 salary, per Spotrac, of $22.5 million â the Tigers face a choice with their southpaw ace. They can hold on to him in hopes that he will sign a contract extension with Detroit, the organization with the 14th-ranked payroll in MLB this year, can afford.
Or, they can trade him now, to get the best possible return before Skubal chooses free agency and the Tigers lose him for no more than a compensatory draft pick.
If they take the second option, what would it take for the Red Sox to extract Skubal from Detroit to join Crochet atop the Red Sox rotation for at least one season? Jim Bowden â former general manager for the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals who was once named MLB Executive of the Year â proposed a package on Thursday that, in his view, would get the job done.
Starter Connelly Early Tops Package
Writing for The Athletic, Bowden proposed a package of four prospects, divided equally between pitchers and position players. Three of the Red Sox prospects in the theoretical trade already have Major League experience.
⢠Connelly Early, rated as the No. 6 prospect in the Boston organization by MLB Pipeline, who posted an impressive 2.33 ERA in 19 1/3 innings over four regular season starts for the Red Sox.
Early also started the third and deciding Game of the AL Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees. That one didn’t go as well, as the 23-year-old southpaw gave up four runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss, though he struck out six. Nonetheless, his postseason experience should be a plus for the Tigers.
Three More Prized Prospects
The other prospects in Bowden’s proposal would be:
⢠Kristian Campbell, a 23-year-old who started the season with the Red Sox and got off to such a great start that the Red Sox rewarded him with an eight-year, $60 million contract extension. Unfortunately, Campbell went into such a slump in May that the Red Sox sent him back to Triple-A and never brought him back.
⢠Jhostynxon “The Password” GarcÃa, who made a brief appearance with the big-league club, but is otherwise considered “Bostonâs best outfield prospect,” Bowden wrote. “But he is blocked at the Major League level by Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran, so putting him in this deal makes sense.”
⢠Christian Foutch, a right-handed bullpen arm whose fastball reached 100 mph at the University of Arkansas, but who has yet to throw a professional pitch.
Foutch was Boston’s fifth-round draft pick this year.
The four comprise “an even more well-rounded package than the Dodgers” could offer for Skubal, according to Bowden.
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