As the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline approached, no player was connected to the Milwaukee Brewers more prominently than two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Milwaukee’s interest in the left-hander was clear. Its rotation was not as settled as it is today, and the organization possessed one of MLB’s best farm systems, making a trade realistic.

The teams failed to reach an agreement. Skubal went to the Los Angeles Dodgers before Milwaukee eliminated him from the postseason.

Jeff Passan from ESPN reported in August that the Brewers would not include Jesus Made, Logan Henderson, Cooper Pratt or Luis Lara in an offer. Milwaukee acquired Dustin May instead and is four victories away from winning its first World Series.

On Tuesday, Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman from the New York Post released an episode of The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast featuring Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who discussed Milwaukee’s pursuit of Skubal.

Attanasio emphasized that the Brewers were built rather than bought. Because he wants sustained success, Milwaukee needed to remain careful about how many prospects it surrendered.

He asked president of baseball operations Matt Arnold whether the Brewers could add anything to their proposal after the Detroit Tigers submitted their best and final offer.

Attanasio questioned whether the offer was truly final, although he did not believe the Tigers were attempting to manipulate interested teams.

Attanasio thought extensively about the decision. He acknowledged that if Milwaukee had not won Game 4, the Brewers could have faced Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto again, potentially extending the National League Championship Series to Game 7.

“This team was built, not bought,” Attanasio said.

“It’s critical to look at how we got here and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being careful about how many prospects we gave up. I asked Matt Arnold, ‘Can we add anything to this package?’

“Detroit gave us a best and final and I think I might’ve said, ‘Are you sure, Matt?’" Attanasio continued. "I think best and final wasn’t best and final. Wasn’t like they were gaming teams.

“I thought a lot about it. If we had not won that Game 4, we would’ve seen Skubal and [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] again and we could’ve been looking at Game 7.”

Around the deadline, retaining Henderson rather than including him in a package for Skubal was specifically identified as a sticking point.

Attanasio confirmed that Henderson was mentioned during negotiations and indicated that the proposed pitching return contributed heavily to the deal collapsing.

“Henderson was mentioned as one of the guys. ... I think it fell down more over the pitching,” he said.

Skubal would have improved Milwaukee, but Henderson completed the regular season with a 2.47 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 98.1 innings over 18 starts. He has a 3.00 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in nine innings over two postseason starts.

Henderson outpitched Yamamoto in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers on Oct. 12, helping Milwaukee take a commanding 2-0 lead.

The 24-year-old remains under team control through 2031, and Milwaukee avoided surrendering a massive package. Reports indicated that No. 2 prospect Luis Peña and two other elite prospects were involved.

Henderson rewarded Milwaukee’s confidence by succeeding immediately under October pressure.

He attacks hitters without allowing the size of the moment to alter his approach and has shown enough composure to handle an established starter such as Yamamoto in a pivotal game.

His age and contractual control also allow the Brewers to build around him rather than searching for another expensive replacement. Keeping Henderson preserved a major part of the rotation while protecting the organization’s prospect depth.

Skubal is an outstanding pitcher who would have helped Milwaukee. However, the Brewers reached the World Series without him, retained their leading prospects and preserved a roster capable of contending for years. They made the correct decision.