MLB insider reveals how Brewers could pivot from Tarik Skubal trade given Tigers’ recent success

Since June 1, the two hottest American League teams are the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. Both have miraculously played their way into postseason contention (with help from a very weak middle class in the Junior Circuit), likely shifting from sellers to buyers ahead of the trade deadline.

Though that doesn't directly impact the Milwaukee Brewers in the standings, it does remove massive trade pieces from the market, including Tarik Skubal and Sonny Gray. Might that actually be a good thing?

Skubal's price figures to be enormous, both in the salary he's still owed (~$13 million) and the talent any acquiring team would have to give up in a trade. The Brewers have made a habit of trading away star players nearing free agency, not bringing them in; the two-time reigning AL Cy Young flies in the face of that strategy that has worked so well.

Yes, he would have incited a bidding war that could have allowed the Brewers to snatch up another target with less competition. But this clearer picture also gives Matt Arnold more direction on where to look for help. And FanSided's own MLB insider Robert Murray seems to have an inkling of what might come next, directly attaching Reid Detmers' name to Milwaukee.

Reid Detmers would be one heck of a consolation prize if Brewers can't land Tarik Skubal

We already know that the Angels and Brewers are a compatible match at this year's deadline. Longtime Cardinals executive John Mozeliak is now running the show in Anaheim, and you can be sure that a front office chief known for building from within will prioritize prospects during this next iteration of the Halos' perpetual rebuild.

Luckily, the Crew have plenty of those to offer, which is a good thing since Detmers won't come cheap. He's obviously not the pitcher that Skubal is, but the 27-year-old southpaw has 2.5 years of team control remaining on his contract and some impressive numbers in 2026, including 3.0 fWAR that ranks him tied for ninth among all MLB pitchers.

His 4.16 ERA might not be anything to write home about, but everything else points to a starter with ace-like potential; he's got a 3.22 FIP, 27.4% strikeout rate, and the fourth-most valuable slider in the league in terms of run value (+12). If he's doing all that with the Angels (who have a long history of doing a terrible job with their pitchers' development), imagine what he could do in Milwaukee's pitching lab.

Murray does offer skepticism about the Detmers-Brewers connection, noting the organization's preference for more marginal moves this time of year. But if Arnold were ever to make a go-for-it blockbuster, this is the kind of cost-controlled arm with untapped upside he should go after.

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