The Detroit Tigers (23-38) are tied with the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies for the worst record in MLB, and superstar left-hander Tarik Skubal is a free agent after this season; we know the drill here.
With that in mind, which team makes the most sense to trade for the defending, back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner? Dontrelle Willis thinks that team is the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I would love to see them [the Brewers] get Skubal because he has the big-game experience, and he can go on the road and shut the opposing team’s offense down, whether it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves or anybody else, especially coming from the left side,” the FOX Sports MLB Analyst said on Monday. “This is a situation where, if you’re a Brewers fan, you want them to take the next step because they’ve been to the postseason, but they’ve had a lot of heartbreak, especially in recent memory, in some tough spots.
“You go out and get that [Skubal], it can feel like a CC Sabathia move, and you saw what that did.”
Skubal is nursing an elbow injury that has kept him off an MLB mound for the last month, with the consensus being that the southpaw could return to the Tigers in early July. FOX Sports MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal recently reported that it’s “trending” toward the Tigers moving Skubal before the 2026 MLB trade deadline (Aug. 3).
In the seven starts he has made this season, Skubal has a 2.70 ERA, an 0.95 WHIP, totaled 45 strikeouts, a 156 ERA+ and 1.7 wins above replacement over 43 ⅓ innings pitched. Skubal led AL starting pitchers in ERA and WAR in both 2024 and 2025, finished with a WHIP below one in three consecutive seasons (2023-25) and posted 234.5 strikeouts per year from 2024-25.
Regarding the potential trade fit, the Brewers have been on fire over the last month, as they’ve won 18 of their last 23 games and are now 36-21, good for a five-and-a-half-game lead on first place in the National League Central. Skubal would join a Milwaukee starting rotation that’s already among the game’s best, as the Brewers’ starting staff is tied for first in MLB in opponent batting average (.208), is third in ERA (3.13), tied for third in WHIP (1.11) and tied for seventh in strikeouts (319). Granted, they’re just 26th in innings pitched (279.1).
In what’s his first full season at the MLB level, Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski is the early favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award, as the flame-throwing right-hander boasts a 1.65 ERA, an NL-best 0.79 WHIP and 108 strikeouts, a 249 ERA+ and three wins above replacement. Meanwhile, left-hander Kyle Harrison sports a 1.57 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, 61 strikeouts, a 263 ERA+ and 2.4 wins above replacement. Their success comes against the backdrop of Milwaukee trading ace Freddy Peralta and fellow right-hander Tobias Myers to the New York Mets in the offseason.
Regarding Willis’ comparison, the Brewers made a blockbuster trade for Cleveland ace CC Sabathia in 2008, which helped propel them to a National League wild-card berth. Across his 17 regular-season starts for the Brewers, the Hall of Fame left-hander pitched seven complete games and recorded a combined 1.65 ERA.
The Brewers are coming off a 2025 campaign that saw them win an MLB-best 97 games in the regular season but later get swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS. While Milwaukee has made the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, it has reached the NLCS just twice over that span (2018 and 2025). The Brewers, who have never won a World Series, haven’t reached the Fall Classic since 1982.
