New Tarik Skubal Rumors Uncover Brewers' Offer to Tigers Before Dodgers Trade at MLB Deadline
The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly weren't the only team to offer two top-100 prospects to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Tarik Skubal.
The Milwaukee Brewers also offered the Tigers three hitting prospects, including at least two ranked in the Top 100 by MLB Pipeline, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
The Brewers' offer included shortstop Luis Peña, who is ranked No. 18 overall by MLB Pipeline, according to McCalvy.
The other two prospects in the offer weren't confirmed. Shortstop Jesús Made (No. 1 overall in MLB Pipeline) was "off limits," while outfielder Luis Lara "probably wasn't in play," per McCalvy.
The Brewers' offer could have included infielder Jett Williams (No. 76) or outfielder Josh Adamczewski (No. 87), McCalvy noted.
The offer also included a third hitter "either on one version of a Top 100 list as well, or just outside," according to McCalvy.
The Brewers ultimately lost out to the Dodgers because the Tigers "wanted a controllable Major League pitcher in the deal," according to McCalvy.
McCalvy noted that Brewers starter Logan Henderson was the player "teams were asking for most often" ahead of the trade deadline.
Henderson has pitched a 2.66 ERA in nine starts this season and is under team control through 2031, so the Brewers would likely have been reluctant to give him up for a player on an expiring contract.
The Tigers sent Skubal's remaining deal to Los Angeles in exchange for outfielder Zyhir Hope (No. 25 overall in MLB Pipeline) alongside two right-handed pitching prospects, River Ryan (No. 68) and Brady Smith.
That marked the first time since at least 2004 in which a team has received two top-100 prospects in a deal for a rental player, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck via MLB Pipeline.
Ryan is the only prospect in the group with MLB experience. He pitched four games for the Dodgers in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery later that year.
He was initially expected to compete for a spot in the Dodgers' rotation this season, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen, before a hamstring injury delayed his return.
Ryan has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo, but the Tigers could be hoping the 27-year-old will be making a return to MLB in the near future. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday he felt Ryan was "in terms of raw ability and talent... as gifted as any pitcher we have in the whole organization."
Harris also said after the trade that his team had received multiple "aggressive" offers for Skubal, and that the decision to go with the Dodgers was not unanimous.
The Tigers executive added he felt the Dodgers were the best "fit" in part because he was looking to bolster what the organization saw as relatively thin pitching depth.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after the trade he didn't feel the Tigers' decision was a matter of which team offered a "better package."
"It's not as simple as that. There's a lot more layers to it... To say that the Brewers didn't try is simply incorrect," Murphy said.
The Brewers ultimately settled for acquiring starter Dustin May and reliever JoJo Ramerdo ahead of the trade deadline. Milwaukee will hope those additions can help bolster the pitching corps behind ace Jacob Misiorowski as the Brewers gear up for a postseason run that could potentially necessitate taking on Skubal and the Dodgers.
