CHICAGO, IL – JULY 08: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers pitches against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on July 8, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees were prioritizing Luis Castillo at the MLB Trade Deadline. Now that he’s going to Seattle, who are the top trade targets?
The New York Yankees weren’t exactly being secretive about their next priority before the Aug. 2 MLB Trade Deadline after they landed Andrew Benintendi. Next on the docket for Brian Cashman was landing Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo, with reports indicating that he was their top remaining target.
However, the Seattle Mariners had other plans.
On Friday night, the M’s swooped in ahead of New York and landed the ace from Cincinnati in exchange for a haul of top prospects. Now, that leaves the Yankees with the necessity to shift their focus if they want to aggressively make a move to upgrade their pitching staff at the deadline.
Eyeing the trade landscape, these are the three trade targets that New York now needs to focus on before Tuesday’s deadline.
Yankees rumors: 3 trade targets with Luis Castillo off the market
3. Yankees could pillage Tigers for Tarik Skubal
Earlier this week, the Detroit Tigers basically put up a for sale sign in the dugout at Comerica Park as it was leaked that the club is pretty much open to selling anyone for the right price at the trade deadline, including a bright young star on the bump in Tarik Skubal.
At just 25 years old, Skubal has been impressive for the disappointing Tigers, so much so that it’s actually quite shocking that Detroit would be willing to part with him and not simply make him the lone protected asset during a fire sale.
This season, Skubal has a 3.67 ERA with a 1.163 WHIP to go with a 3.77 strikeout-to-walk ratio. More importantly, he’s improved every season that he’s appeared in the majors — which would be over the last three years as this is his third season in the show.
Because of his age and ascension as a stud on the mound, this could be a sneaky expensive option for New York. At the same time, though, if the Yankees want to not only bolster their World Series push in 2022 but for many seasons to come, then Skubal should very much be in play for the pinstripes.