Mets predicted to make blockbuster Tarik Skubal trade with Tigers

After an offseason full of rumors, Tarik Skubal still plays for the Detroit Tigers. For now.

The back-to-back AL Cy Young winner is still entering the last year of his contract, though. He's still a prime trade target for teams seeking pitching, which could be where the New York Mets find themselves by midseason.

That's what has led to a "bold prediction" in a new article from MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince -- he predicts the Mets will trade for Skubal, and that the Tigers will make the playoffs anyway.

It's a fascinating two-parter. It'd be a headline-stealing move for the Mets to add one of the best pitchers on the planet. And it'd be impressive but not totally unexpected for a deep Tigers roster to make it to the postseason even after giving up their ace.

It'd certainly be a good outcome for Detroit, which likely knows it won't be the time paying Skubal generational wealth next offseason.

And for the Mets, it'd be the splash they need to make to pursue a World Series title.

"Anyway, I could see the Tigers running into issues," Castrovince writes. "Not because they’re not talented. They’re very talented, and they have a lot of talent coming from their system. But I worry about Framber Valdez’s volume history and command vagaries catching up to him after signing that big contract and the entire team feeling the weight of Skubal’s future on their shoulders."

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So how does the Skubal trade help?

"Detroit will be mired in mediocrity and unclear on its course," Castrovince writes. "A Mets team highly, highly motivated to make the most of its lavish but flawed roster will give up, say, Jonah Tong to get him and be in a great position to be the team that perhaps takes down the Dodgers in the NL field. And then a funny thing will happen: Relieved of the weight of the Skubal situation, the Tigers will kick into gear and grab an AL Wild Card spot, sans Skubal."

Hey, maybe Skubal will pitch for the Mets against the Tigers in the World Series. Why not?

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