The Boston Red Sox couldn’t really trade for Tarik Skubal… right?

Whether Skubal is truly available can only be known by the Detroit Tigers’ front office, and to some degree, the “everyone has a price” principle comes into play. With that in mind, even for Red Sox fans scared about the idea of trading for a one-year rental, it’s worth trying to project what the price tag would be.

Insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic has an idea for what the Red Sox could send to Detroit, and it’s equal parts confusing, fascinating, and tempting.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Insider’s Tarik Skubal-Red Sox hypothetical

On Thursday, Bowden projected that the Red Sox would have to send four players to Detroit to possibly land Skubal: left-handed pitcher Connelly Early, infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell, outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, and right-handed pitcher Christian Foutch.

“The Red Sox are coming off a postseason berth and are looking to build on that momentum. Adding Skubal and pairing him with Garrett Crochet would give Boston the top left-handed duo in baseball.

“They could offer an even more well-rounded package than the Dodgers’ group, led by Early, who would immediately go into the Tigers’ rotation. … Campbell would be another big piece of the trade return.”

One could argue that Crochet and Skubal would be the best duo of lefties in baseball history, bar none. But if there’s only one guaranteed season where that duo stays together, is it worth paying this steep a price?

Ultimately, because Skubal will end up demanding $300-400 million on his next deal, which begins in his age-30 season, this just doesn’t feel like the pitcher the Red Sox will target. It’s an all-in move for 2026, and the Red Sox are banking on their window being longer than that.

There will be other teams that might be willing to pay Skubal’s free agency price tag, and ultimately, if the superstar winds up traded, the smart money is on it being to one of those teams.

More MLB: Red Sox’s Alex Cora Sounds Off On Craig Breslow’s Job Performance