As the San Diego Padres have been struggling relative to their prior expectations, there is speculation about whether the team is going to make a splash for a certain star player. With the Padres in rumors with Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, this MLB insider speaks on the possibility.
Speaking on “Foul Territory,” Jeff Passan of ESPN was discussing the possibility of San Diego trading for Skubal, mentioning how he could be the piece missing for the flawed ball club. However, Passan would ultimately say that he doesn’t feel confident in predicting that they will “go out and chase.”
“But is it worth renting Tarik Skubal for a team like this, a team that has flaws?” Passan said. “Or do you look at it and say, you know what, the truth is, if we have Tarik Skubal, if we have Michael King, if we have this bullpen, we can go out and beat absolutely anybody, and it’s a fair and reasonable thing to say, but the Padres have mortgaged their farm system so much in recent years, and they got Mason Miller out of it for later, so that wound up being a win-win, but I just don’t know if this is the Padres team that’s going to go out and chase.”
For a team like the Padres with offensive flaws, is it worth giving up a haul to rent Tarik Skubal?
"I just don't know if this is the Padres team that's going to go out and chase," says @JeffPassan. pic.twitter.com/rjKJQwozod
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 17, 2026
More on the Padres potentially going after Tarik Skubal
Passan would continue talking about how the Padres are in a stacked National League (NL) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Philadelphia Phillies, where a big move could be in order. The insider would even say that San Diego makes prospect Ethan Salas available, Detroit would have to consider a deal.
“I think if Ethan Salas is in a trade, at very least Scott Harris in Detroit, the president of baseball operations, there has to listen, because he might potentially be the best prospect that gets offered,” Passan said.
At any rate, it remains to be seen if the Tigers deal away Skubal and if the Padres will be a team that pursues the star, as the deadline is on Monday evening, August 3.
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