Well it official ... Topps Now has released a Motown to Tinseltown card highlighting the Detroit Tigers trade of their pitching ace Tarik Skubal to the LA Dodgers. This limited run baseball card is only available through August 3 so if you want to get your hands on one don't wait to put an order in. A few lucky people will get sent cards personally autographed by the pitcher randomly inserted into card orders that are mailed out by Topps. While that would be a cool autograph to be surprised by when your card arrives in the mail, I'm too bummed about this trade to add this Topps Now card to my collection.
I did buy two Max Clark Topps Now cards over the weekend highlighting that Tiger's Call Up to the Big Leagues and his first home run. There was some good news over the weekend involving the Detroit Tigers with this young prospect showing no signs of stage fright in his MLB debut. While losing Skubal was a gut-punch, Detroit does have a nice developing core of young talent that hopefully will lead to long-term success for the team and they just added a few new ones to the equation.
For the last three years, Skubal wasn't just our best arm—he was the best pitcher in the entire sport, boasting a ridiculous 2.46 ERA over 93 starts since 2023. Even after a mid-season elbow procedure to clear out bone chips, he returned to the mound throwing absolute gas and dominant stuff, posting a 2.79 ERA with 116 strikeouts this season. When he walked off the mound at Comerica Park last week to a roaring standing ovation, it felt like he was supposed to lead our young core for the next decade. Instead, he’s heading to Los Angeles to join Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and a luxury-tax-bloated roster trying to secure a World Series three-peat. The rich get richer, and Detroit is left holding a bag of "potential."
As much as this trade makes your blood boil, the Tigers' president of baseball operations, Scott Harris, was backed into a corner. The writing has been on the wall ever since Skubal and his agent, Scott Boras, won a massive $32 million arbitration case against the Tigers. Skubal is a pending free agent looking for a historic $400 million megadeal.
Detroit's front office tried to double down on competing this winter by signing Framber Valdez and bringing back Justin Verlander, but the Tigers brutal 6-22 collapse in May derailed the season. Even though they fought back within 2.5 games of an AL Wild Card spot this weekend, ownership looked at the long-term landscape and panicked about losing a generational ace for nothing but a compensatory draft pick.
Did the Tigers get fleeced? Early consensus from national analysts says the Dodgers pulled this off without surrendering their absolute top-tier talent, which feels like a slap in the face.However, there is high-ceiling talent coming back to the 313:
Zyhir Hope (OF): The headliner of the deal. At just 21 years old, he has been tearing up Double-A, slashing .293/.369/.530 with 23 home runs and 18 stolen bases. He brings explosive left-handed power and elite speed to our future outfield.
If you are looking for a reason to forgive the front office for trading Skubal, Zyhir Hope is that reason. He provides Detroit with a potential perennial 3-plus-wins above replacement (WAR) player, All-Star caliber outfielder. A 3.0 WAR season is a highly respected benchmark that separates standard starters from the upper echelon of the league. National analysts project his Major League ETA around late 2027. Paired alongside Riley Greene and Max Clark, Hope gives the Tigers one of the most terrifying, athletic future outfields in the entire American LeagueRiver Ryan (RHP): A 27-year-old righty who already tasted the big leagues in 2024 (1.33 ERA in four starts) before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He's coming off a hamstring injury but has a high-spin arsenal and is essentially major-league ready to fill Skubal’s vacancy in the rotation.
Despite his age and recent elbow reconstruction, scouts remain enamored with Ryan because his arm is physically fresh from having thrown very few career innings. He features a lethal five-pitch mix that centers heavily on creating weak, groundball contact. Ryan has top-of-the-rotation stuff and is essentially an MLB-ready starter once his hamstring heals. Because he missed so much time, he still possesses rookie eligibility. Detroit essentially targeted him to immediately step into Skubal's empty rotation spot, giving the team a fiercely competitive, cost-controlled starter for the next five seasons.Brady Smith (RHP): A 21-year-old former high school third-round pick who has logged a steady 3.88 ERA in Class-A this year. A developmental arm with great underlying metrics.
Smith throws from an athletic, explosive three-quarters arm slot that tunnels his pitches exceptionally well. His arsenal underwent a massive transformation during his injury rehab:
- The Changeup (Grade: 60): “MLB Pipeline grades his mid-80s changeup as the best thing he throws — a 60, with fade and sink, and the ability to land it for a strike or bury it for a chase.” It serves as his primary weapon to draw heavy whiffs.
- The Fastball (Grade: 55): Sits comfortably at 93–96 mph and routinely touches 98 mph. It generates great "ride" and carry at the top of the zone.
- The Breaking Ball Portfolio: He is currently tinkering with an upper-80s slider, a low-90s cutter, and an upper-70s curveball. All three are considered works-in-progress but show flashing potential.
- The Catch: Control (Grade: 45). He walked 30 batters in 74.1 innings this year, and his command can wander when his mechanics get out of sync
Tigers fans should view Brady Smith as a high-reward lottery ticket. He has frontline starter stuff, but his timeline is a slow burn with an estimated major league ETA of 2029. If Detroit’s pitching coaches can refine his command and unlock consistency in his breaking pitches, they have a dominant, high-strikeout machine on their hands.
It is exhausting being a fan of a mid-market team. The minute a homegrown player achieves true greatness, the countdown clock starts ticking until they are inevitably lured away by the coastal giants.
