Why Yankees Didn't Trade for Tarik Skubal Revealed in New Rumors, Aaron Boone Reacts to Blockbuster

Even though the New York Yankees did have some contact with the Detroit Tigers about Tarik Skubal before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, they didn't aggressively pursue the two-time AL Cy Young winner.

Per The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo, the Yankees didn't view starting pitching as a top priority leading up to the trade deadline given the depth they already have in the rotation:

"It's unclear how far the New York Yankees got with the Tigers in talks with Skubal, though it is believed they were in touch with each other in recent days.

"One team decision-maker pointed to how Skubal — and starting pitching, in general — 'wasn't quite an area of need' for the Yankees, whose offense has been in the dumps of late."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone reacted to the Dodgers making the deal for Skubal.

"Obviously, Skubal seemed like he was available the last few days," Boone said (h/t Ardaya and Woo). "Not shocked. We know the system the Dodgers had."

The Dodgers gave up prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith in the deal with Detroit for Skubal. Hope and Ryan are regarded as top-100 prospects, but neither one is a definite blue-chip talent that would have been impossible for another team to match Los Angeles' offer.

New York's system isn't in such great shape that a trade package like the Dodgers' wouldn't have hurt, but a deal centered around top prospect George Lombard Jr. might have been enough to push it over the edge if the opportunity presented itself.

An argument could be made, especially given the dearth of quality hitters available, that the Yankees should have made Skubal more of a priority to try building a super rotation for the playoffs.

That's essentially what the Dodgers are doing by bringing in Skubal to join a group that already had Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Justin Wrobleski.

Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow are currently not pitching due to injuries, but Snell and Glasnow are making progress in their rehab.

A biceps injury on top of lingering knee soreness has left Ohtani's status on the mound up in the air, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said there's no reason to think he can't pitch in the playoffs.

If you add Skubal to the Yankees, their rotation would have included him, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Cam Schlittler and Ryan Weathers. Carlos Rodón, who has been on the IL since July 3 due to elbow inflammation, could be back in the mix later this month.

The primary offensive reinforcements for the Yankees will come from injured players getting healthy. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton could return this month. Cody Bellinger might be back closer to the start of September, at the earliest, while he recovers from a hamstring strain.

Even though the Yankees are comfortably in playoff position right now as the No. 1 wild card, but they are three games back in the loss column of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East.

Given the timeline for those hitters to be back, building a super-rotation could have helped the Yankees close the gap on Tampa. They could still do that as presently constructed, but their path would have looked much simpler with Skubal in the mix.