The MLB offseason is in full swing, and one of the main topics around the baseball world is the possibility of back-to-back Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal being moved. 

Skubal and the Tigers have not been able to come close to a potential contract extension to this point. While Skubal may want to stay with the Tigers, there will come a point where a move elsewhere may become the reality.

A team that is already a World Series contender needs to do everything it can and try to acquire Skubal, and that is the Houston Astros. 

*THIS IS A PREDICTION, NOT A REPORT*

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Tarik Skubal Traded to Astros

The Astros make a ton of sense to trade for Skubal as they’re currently trying to figure out how to extend their now slim championship window.

Acquiring Skubal not only extends the Astros’ championship window but gives Houston a true ace and difference maker they haven’t had since Gerrit Cole back in 2019.

A dynamic duo of Skubal and Hunter Brown makes for a great one-two punch at the top of the rotation that could be just what the Astros need to return to the World Series. 

This makes all the sense in the world for Skubal as he gets to compete for a potential championship title. While the Tigers are a good team, they don’t have the recent success quite like the Houston Astros do.

The Astros have won two World Series in the last decade, whether you want to count 2017 or not. Even with the cheating scandal, it’s still in the record books. Even after the cheating allegations, the Astros are still a threat year in and year out to be a threat to come out of the American League.

That surely sounds appealing to someone like Skubal, who has already shown he can produce in October and be the nucleus of a team. He can be a major boost and be the next franchise cornerstone for the Astros once Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are gone. 

Skubal’s Uncertain Future in Detroit

The Tigers need to face facts. If they aren’t gonna give the best pitcher they’ve had since Justin Verlander a massive contract, then it would be wise to get a haul for him while he’s still on the team.

Speaking of Verlander, this isn’t the first time these two have come together on a trade for an ace. In 2017, the Tigers traded Verlander to the Astros, and he would go on to win two championships with the Astros.

Now here we are again, a contract still needing to be signed by Skubal, and with the Tigers’ front office reluctant to give him the fair and massive contract extension that Skubal deserves, another trade may just be on the horizon.

While the Astros may scare the Tigers away, they have talent to give back to the Tigers to make a trade work out between the two teams. The Tigers would like to have more MLB talent as they are in the middle of their window to compete.

Losing Skubal certainly puts a major factor in that success, but the Tigers still have talent to compete in a rather weak AL Central. The Astros have the resources for the Tigers; it’s just a matter of whether it’s what the Tigers like and if they can make a trade work and would be willing to pull the trigger twice with the same organization that took Verlander off their hands.

If the Astros want to keep winning, then what better way to keep that success than to go out and acquire the best pitcher in all of baseball and go compete for another championship in 2026? The AL is as wide as it can ever be right now, with no clear favorite.