Tarik Skubal says time is running out on Tigers as trade deadline approaches: ‘We need to play better baseball or else’

Time is running out for the Detroit Tigers to climb out of the AL Central basement otherwise, as Tarik Skubal put it this week, changes could be coming to the roster.

Through 74 games the Tigers are 30-44 and in last place, 9.5 games behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox and 6.5 games out of an AL wild card spot. Their season includes five losing streaks of at least four games and a stretch in May where they won only three of 19 games.

The 2026 MLB trade deadline is Aug. 3 and Skubal’s name is atop the list of potential players who could be on the move. The 29-year-old back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner sounded the alarm this week that the current Tigers roster could look a whole lot different in two month’s time.

“The reality is we need to play better baseball or else, come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is,” Skubal told The Detroit News. “And if they don’t think what we have is a World Series- or playoff-caliber team, then the whole team is going to look different. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Skubal’s future remains cloudy after he won his arbitration hearing in February, which featured the largest filing difference in MLB arbitration history. The left-hander, who has only made eight starts this season after missing five weeks due to left elbow surgery, has been with the franchise since he was a ninth-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent next winter and could command at least $400 million in his next contract.

Skubal said in March that the team never made him a long-term offer during the offseason and that he’s focusing on baseball. The contract stuff can wait until after this season.

But will he still be a Tiger after the World Series trophy is awarded?

That is something Skubal understands given the state of the Tigers and his own situation.

“The future for a lot of people in this room — not just myself — the outlook could look very much different in two months and it all comes to an abrupt end,” Skubal said. “We still control our destiny a little bit. We still do.

“We play the team this weekend that’s winning our division. It’s another big series. You don’t want to be playing playoff baseball in June, but it feels like we’re playing playoff baseball. We don’t have very much room for error, and everyone understands that. Everyone understands there has to be a sense of urgency. There has to be. Not panic. But there has to be a sense of urgency to try to win every game we play.”

There is still time, but the clock is ticking and general manager Jeff Greenberg’s phone will be ringing with suitors calling about his star pitcher. Skubal has only ever known the Tigers organization, but he’s not getting any younger and the desire to win championships is top of mind.