Several weeks ago, we heard that the Mariners were potentially interested in Skubal. With Josh Naylor's contract now done, could the M's really make a play for the best pitcher in the game?
Several weeks ago, we heard that the Seattle Mariners were going to be interested in acquiring Tarik Skubal in a trade with the Detroit Tigers this offseason.
At the time, I called the idea of acquiring Skubal a "luxury item," and I encouraged the Mariners to take care of the true necessities first.
Well, with Josh Naylor's contract off the board already, the Mariners have taken care of their biggest necessity, so can they circle back to the idea of acquiring the best pitcher in the game?
ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney joined the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast to discuss the possibility:
If they want to be, they absolutely would be. You know, the question is, what is the desire? Here's the thing. I really believe this, I mean, what the Tigers are doing now is they've signaled to other teams: 'Look, if you've got offers, you want things to throw at us, go ahead.' Which is sort of a semantical way of saying they're open for business and they're going to listen to offers.
And it might be that in the end they decide, 'you know what? No, we're going to keep him through 2026. We're going to try to win and we're going to have him go into free agency.' But, I do think that he's such an extraordinary player and he's such a potentially difference making player that you could see a team like the Mets, the Dodgers, saying, 'you know what, we're all in. We're going to, we're going to give up the prospects because we want to win in 2026.'
And if you're the Mariners, and they're going to know their prospects a lot better than I do, they can look at the depth and say, 'look, we've got the prospects to make a deal, we've got the pitching to make a deal if we want to. But do we want to have an investment in a player who very likely is going to walk away after one year?' And he's represented by Scott Boras who always takes his clients into free agency when they're this close to that to get maximum leverage. And that would mean the Mariners have to bid against the Dodgers and the Mets and the Phillies and the Red Sox and all these big market teams, the Blue Jays. So you would have to feel comfortable the idea that 'you know what, we're buying Skubal for one year and he's going to help us our chances to win the World Series.' Do we do that or do we play the long game and keep our prospects?
The offseason will continue on, and the Skubal rumors will continue on, with the baseball world convening again at the winter meetings from Dec. 7-10 in Orlando.
Related Mariners Stories
LATEST PODCAST IS OUT: Brady Farkas is back for the the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast! He covers the Josh Naylor news from every angle including the message it sends to the clubhouse and fanbase. Also, what's next for Seattle? LISTEN HERE:
COLT TIME in 2026? According to a new report from Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, Colt Emerson could win the starting third base job in 2026. Here's the positive - and negative - of that. CLICK HERE:
HOW ABOUT COLE? If Colt Emerson could also win the starting 2B job, what does that mean for Cole Young? CLICK HERE:
Join the Conversation
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!