Tarik Skubal is Mariners’ top trade fit, ESPN’s Passan says

The Seattle Mariners have so many quality starting pitchers that their rotation is practically bursting at the seams. So naturally, the thing that would make the most sense for the M’s at the MLB trade deadline is to… get an even better one?

That’s what ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan suggests in his early MLB trade deadline preview that published Thursday.

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It’s a very intriguing name at the center of this: two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, who is plenty familiar with the city already having starred in college for the Seattle U Redhawks.

Even though it may seem like a hot take at first blush, Passan has sound reasoning in identifying Skubal as a fit for a Mariners trade with the Detroit Tigers. He says the AL West-leading Mariners’ objective this season is to “get to the World Series for the first time in their 50-year history.” And a way to do that is to make their biggest strength even stronger.

Passan writes that the Mariners have “six good-to-great starting pitchers and arguably the best right- and left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball (Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson),” but that actually makes getting Skubal potentially more realistic – in particular if they are willing to trade one of their current starting pitchers to get the dominant left-hander.

“If this doesn’t make sense by now, you haven’t been listening. Skubal is the sort of player who can win a team a series,” Passan writes. “And that includes the World Series.”

Skubal has a 2.70 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in seven starts this season, but he’s been out of action since late April after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow. Though that may sound ominous, Skubal was quickly throwing after the surgery and is already nearing a rehab assignment in the minor leagues.

As for his availability, it wouldn’t be a shock for the Tigers to shop him. Skubal is set to be a free agent after the season, and Detroit has stumbled to a 25-38 record a year after pushing the Mariners to five games in the American League Division Series.

Perhaps the Mariners and Tigers could start setting the framework for a potential blockbuster this weekend. The M’s begin a three-game series in Detroit at 3:40 p.m. Friday.

Passan named a couple other trade deadline fits for the Mariners in his piece: Baltimore Orioles right-handed reliever Rico Garcia (0.68 ERA, 0.61 WHIP in 28 appearances) and slugging Angels right-handed outfield bat Jo Adell (37 home runs in 2025).

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