With the 2026 deadline looming, the Milwaukee Brewers eye Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal to replicate the legendary CC Sabathia deal from 2008.
The idea of revisiting a CC Sabathia-style trade is what makes the 2026 trade deadline so important for the Milwaukee Brewers.
ESPN's Jeff Passan acknowledged that while they only had three months of service time out of Sabathia in 2008, he guided them to the playoffs, ending a 26-year drought.
Sure, things didn't go according to plan that year, but it was by far the most aggressive they've been in recent memory.
This season, Milwaukee has a chance to do something similar. It required three prospects and a player to be named later to bring in Sabathia all those years ago, but here in 2026, another similar opportunity has presented itself.
Brewers have a chance to pull a 2008
In a trade that could be 18 years in the making, the Brewers know Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is on the market. It's a very competitive market, to say the least, but this wouldn't be a move that's completely out of the ordinary for Milwaukee.
Nearly two decades is a long time, but it's now or never for this Brewers team. They're built on youth, no doubt, but 2026 feels like it could be the year that Milwaukee not only makes it to the World Series, but wins it all.
Step one is stopping the Los Angeles Dodgers from getting Skubal. If they do, it's basically a lost cause. After LA swept them in the National League Championship Series a year ago, vibes were at an all-time low.
Once again, manager Pat Murphy has outdone himself. In what could be a third consecutive season he's named Manager of the Year, Murphy has led this team to one of the best records in all of baseball, and they're in a prime position to add to an already loaded and extremely talented roster for what they have to work with.
Milwaukee tends to stay away from rentals
If the Tigers want a guy with a ton of team control like Logan Henderson, it makes sense that the Brewers would be hesitant about pulling the trigger. For as good as Skubal is, the Brewers are in a smaller market, which means they have to expend every resource possible to make sure they're set up for the long haul.
Trading a ton of prospects for a three-month rental is the exact opposite of that, but at some point they're going to need to cash in on having the top farm system in all of baseball.
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