The Detroit Tigers, who routed the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday by a lopsided 14-0 final, are at a standstill when it comes to the MLB Trade Deadline. Their biggest eye candy, two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, is slated to pitch in what is presumably his last start in a Tigers uniform on Wednesday.

Being 3.5 games out of the final American League Wild Card spot puts the Tigers in a pinch of whether or not they want to stick with Skubal as their lead man in the rotation in hopes of a postseason run, or they could prepare for their future with young talent in exchange for the southpaw. 

If the Tigers do present themselves as buyers and are willing to deal Skubal, the Los Angeles Dodgers are frontrunners to showcase the most well-rounded package for Detroit. 

The Richter Scale for the Dodgers needing Skubal took a massive jolt on Wednesday as Shohei Ohtani revealed that his ailing knee and bicep have yet to be 100%. Though manager Dave Roberts told the media via SportsNetLA that he expects Ohtani to pitch in the Postseason, he would require a full stint of build-up on the mound, which could take weeks.

Now, if the Dodgers decided to limit Ohtani on the pitching side, they would have no choice but to at least weigh their options on whether to acquire Skubal or not, and they have the trade capital for it compared to other ball clubs. 

Detroit is eyeing a controllable starter and a handful of young prospects. According to MLB Pipeline senior writer Jim Callis via MLB.com, the Dodgers could offer southpaw Justin Wrobleski or Emmet Sheehan to spearhead the package.

Wrobleski has been the biggest surprise coming from a lofty Dodgers rotation. The 26-year-old lefty is in the top 20 of ERA leaders (2.88) and is 11-2 with a WHIP of 1.02 in 112.2 innings this year. 

He entered the second half of the season coming off one of the better pitching performances in his first All-Star Game selection for the National League, striking out five through two innings of relief.

Though he was rocked for a career-high four home runs against the Seattle Mariners in the Dodgers' eventual 7-6 loss on Tuesday, Wrobleski has proven that 2026 is the season in which he's solidified himself as a major league pitcher.  

Alongside their major-league-ready starters, the Dodgers have the most prospects on the MLB Top 100 list with nine. Los Angeles could easily go as far as packaging a trifecta down from the farm without being impacted so drastically. 

Callis noted that outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-hander Christian Zazueta could lead the charge on the prospects' side of the haul. Hope is an intriguing name for any club, with his slash line of .288/.367/.844 through 91 games down in Double-A Tulsa, and Zazueta has posted an ERA of 3.36 across 69.2 innings pitched while striking out 100 in 15 starts. 

Despite a strong case for the back-to-back champs, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com believes that the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays have the edge over the Dodgers with their top farm system and ability to make big-time noise in October. 

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