“It’s just given me peace.”
Ryan is one of the 12-most intriguing players on this year’s trade bubble, executives believe, with teams still trying to figure out whether they’ll be traded or kept.
Prediction: He’ll stay.
Here’s a look at other players on the bubble:
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Skubal, the defending two-time AL Cy Young winner, realizes his fate depends on how the Tigers fare these next weeks. If they keep winning – and they’re 24-15 since June 1 — he’s staying.
If they have a relapse and start losing like they did when they went 6-22 in May, he’s gone. And if he’s gone, why hang onto Casey Mize, who’s also a free agent after the season?
“I mean, it’s all out of my control,” Skubal said after his last start.
Certainly, he’s doing everything in his power to stay, pitching seven shutout innings Saturday with nine strikeouts against the Angels. It was the first time he went seven innings since April 29, his last start before undergoing elbow surgery, and everyone’s taking notice.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.
Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Clay Holmes, New York Mets
Holmes hasn’t pitched in a game since May 15, when he fractured his right fibula on a comebacker, but it hasn’t stopped scouts from monitoring his minor-league rehab stint, knowing he should return shortly after the Aug. 3 trade deadline. This is a guy who was dominant before the injury, yielding a 2.38 ERA in his first 52 ⅔ innings.
Holmes is in the second year of a three-year, $38 million contract, but he could opt out of the remaining $12 million in his deal and hit free agency after the season. He expressed interest in signing a long-term extension, but David Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations, has been reluctant to give out long-term deals to pitchers.