[Déjà Bru]

I place this here, since this is "The Skubal Trade Watch Thread". From The Athletic:

Tarik Skubal heads the top 10 MLB stars most likely to be traded this offseason

By Jim Bowden



There is plenty of anticipation surrounding this year’s MLB free agent class, which will be led by the power bats of Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, the well-rounded position players such as Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman, and several standout starting pitchers such as left-handers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez and right-handers Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Michael King and dominant closers, including Edwin Díaz and Robert Suarez.

However, those aren’t the only stars who might change uniforms this offseason. There are several big names who could be traded. For teams targeting frontline pitching, in particular, the market could be especially fruitful, as three potential No. 1 starters may be available.

Let’s take a look at the top-10 biggest names most front office executives believe could or will be dealt this winter:

1. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Detroit Tigers

The Tigers commenced negotiations on an extension with Skubal — who is entering his walk season — but were somewhat surprised to find they were about a quarter of a billion dollars off with their latest offer. Skubal and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates are considered the two best pitchers in the sport. To sign either one of them to a long-term deal, their current teams must expect to commit dollars far beyond the Gerritt Cole contract of nine years and $324 million and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 11-year, $324 million pact.

When Juan Soto got his $765 million and Shohei Ohtani got his $700 million, they reset the market for top free agents, and the expectation now is that Skubal will reset the market for pitchers and become the highest-paid starting pitcher in history, with a realistic starting price north of $400 million. It’s unlikely the Tigers go there, and if that’s the case, they certainly can’t make the mistake of waiting until the trade deadline to deal him or letting him walk with minimal draft compensation next offseason.

Therefore, even though the Tigers are in position to compete for the postseason next year, it’s likely they shop Skubal at the Winter Meetings and try to make the best trade they can with so many big market teams with deep farm systems obviously wanting him, such as the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees and Giants.

The others are:

2. Freddy Peralta, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
3. Hunter Greene, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
4. Jarren Duran, LF, Boston Red Sox
5. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Washington Nationals
6. Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins
7. Sonny Gray, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
8. Brandon Lowe, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays
9. Alec Bohm, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies
10. Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels

There are blurbs for all of these players but I omit them here. Follow the link or, if you cannot access the article, leave a request here and I will post what you want to see.