Yankees, Brewers' Tarik Skubal Trade Talks with Tigers Detailed in New MLB Rumors After Dodgers Deal

Before the Detroit Tigers accepted an offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tarik Skubal, teams like the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees made efforts to acquire the two-time AL Cy Young winner.

Separate stories from ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal go into detail about the Tigers' various discussions, what they were seeking and what opposing clubs would and would not offer for Skubal.

Passan noted the Yankees "dabbled" in talks with the Tigers, but they were unwilling to include George Lombard Jr. hindered them because their farm system isn't great behind him right now.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed earlier this week there were discussions with Detroit, but he said there was a "very specific ask and a certain player" they "weren't willing" to give up.

Even though Cashman didn't mention Lombard by name, Rosenthal noted it was "almost certainly" the 21-year-old shortstop who homered in his first MLB game on Tuesday.

Things with the Brewers went a little further, though they also had a list of untouchables that Passan noted included MLB's No. 1 overall prospect Jesús Made and current big leaguers with several years of team control remaining, including Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara and Logan Henderson.

According to Rosenthal, Brewers officials did offer the Tigers "multiple paths" that could have centered on pitching or top-20 prospect Luis Peña and 18-year-old outfielder Alexander Frias.

There was also one path built around Jett Williams, though Rosenthal noted his stock "is not as high" right now as it was when Milwaukee acquired him from the New York Mets in the Freddy Peralta trade.

Passan wrote there were various camps within the Brewers organization about how to approach the Skubal talks with some in the "go-for-it" group, some in the "stay-the-course" camp and others somewhere in between.

Ultimately, though, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters this week he went with the Dodgers' offer because it was the best one of the table for the future of their organization:

"Respectfully, the notion that we should have waited 24 or 48 hours later and extracted more value, that's garbage. That's not how these negotiations work. The organizations that were involved were extremely aggressive and we got to their best [offer] and we chose the best one, and we are extremely excited about the one we took. We think these players have a chance to be really good Major League players for a long time with the Tigers."

The deal wound up bringing back prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith. That trio helped move the Tigers' farm system up 10 spots in B/R's rankings from 18 to eight.

Even though it was a hefty price in prospects for the Dodgers to pay, they still own the No. 1 farm system in the sport.

If Skubal ends up making the difference for the Dodgers in October as they pursue a third straight World Series title, teams like the Yankees and Brewers might look back on their decision not to go all-in for him as a mistake regardless of how the prospects they didn't want to trade turn out.