Yankees Are Positioned To Land Tarik Skubal, If Cashman Isn’t Scared

ESPN’s Jeff Passan has listed the Yankees as a team that could trade for Tigers ace Tarik Skubal this offseason. New York reportedly has pitchers that Detroit would take in exchange for the Tigers ace. [x]

Yankees fans, listen up. When you talk about aces in today’s game, there are only a handful of true bulldogs left. Tarik Skubal is one of them. And after everything we just lived through watching this team crumble when it mattered, the possibility of Skubal in the Bronx is the kind of news that gets the blood pumping again.

Detroit Has A Problem. New York Has The Solution

Skubal just won his second straight Cy Young Award. That is not luck. That is dominance. The man led the American League in ERA at 2.21. He led in WAR at 7.6. He led in WHIP at 0.89. He finished second in strikeouts with 241. This dude is a machine. The best part is he throws left handed which every Yankees fan knows plays perfect in Yankee Stadium.

But the Tigers know what time it is. He is a free agent after 2026 and he has shown zero real interest in sticking around long term. Detroit can either trade him for a massive haul now or watch him walk away for nothing. Guess what. They are going to trade him. Jim Bowden basically spelled it out. The Tigers will listen. All they need is one overwhelming offer and boom. He is gone.

Cashman Better Not Sit On His Hands

Here is where we get nervous. Because we have seen this movie before. Stars available. Yankees linked. Yankees interested. Yankees love the player. Then Brian Cashman magically disappears into a fog of prospects and analytics charts and the Dodgers swoop in and take the prize.

This cannot be that again. You want a real number one pitcher to sit next to Gerrit Cole. You want a guaranteed push toward a World Series in 2026. You go get Skubal. End of story.

Prospects Are Cool. Rings Are Cooler

We all love the kids. Spencer Jones looks like he was built in a lab. Jasson Dominguez has that superstar aura. George Lombard Jr might be a future star. Luis Gil has electric stuff. Cam Schlittler has upside. Cool. Great. Fantastic.

But prospects are lottery tickets. Tarik Skubal is the jackpot. He is everything this franchise pretends to have but actually does not. That edge. That swagger. That overpowering presence. The kind of guy the other team hates to see warming up in the bullpen.

You want to get back to the top. Prospects alone will not do it. Not in this division. Not in this era.

The Time Is Now

MLB insider Jeff Passan basically confirmed it. No progress on a long term deal. No statement of loyalty from the Tigers GM. Nothing. When the front office has a chance to say they are not trading a guy and they do not say it, that tells you everything.

Teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox and Blue Jays are already licking their chops. You let one of those teams jump in front of you and that is a crime against the history of this franchise. Skubal in Yankee Stadium every fifth day would change the entire vibe of this team.

The Hot Stove just got real. Stop talking about winning and start acting like winners again. Yankees fans are done with waiting. Go pull the trigger. Go get the ace. Make the move that puts fear back into every lineup in baseball.

Bronx Bombers with Cole and Skubal leading the charge. That is not hope. That is a threat.

Your move, Cashman.