Nine Tarik Skubal trade ideas to shake up the MLB trade deadline - ESPN

Let's make a Tarik Skubal deal!

With the best pitcher in baseball's name being mentioned frequently in MLB trade deadline conversations, it's time to find a home for the Detroit Tigers ace every contender will be coveting this summer.

We asked our MLB experts to put on their GM hats, taking the reins for one team and pitching their best realistic offer to land Skubal. From there, ESPN MLB draft and prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel evaluated each deal — dismissing those that came up short and finding the ones that could actually get a blockbuster deal done this summer.

Who had the best offer? Let's dig in.

The offer: RHP Luis Severino, LHP Jamie Arnold, OF Devin Taylor and OF Lawrence Butler

The A's could get this deal done by putting one name in their package: Leo De Vries. That would essentially mean they traded Mason Miller for Skubal. Fun to think about but that's all that is — a thought exercise. With no chance to sign Skubal long term, the A's can't give up their top prospect, nor will they trade lefty Gage Jump, who recently joined their major league rotation.

Instead, Detroit gets back a legit starter for next season in Severino (assuming he exercises his player option), the 11th pick in last summer's draft in Arnold, a change-of-scenery candidate in Butler and an OF prospect in Taylor. — Jesse Rogers

The GM says: By my math, this offer is underwater — i.e., worth negative value. You're basically dumping two contracts in Severino (prorated $20 million this year, a $500,000 trade bonus and a $22 million player option he's extremely likely to pick up) and Butler (a little over $60 million guaranteed through 2031) while including a good prospect (Arnold, 50th on my most recent prospect list) and a decent prospect