Tigers questioned by MLB execs for one issue in Tarik Skubal trade timeline

The Detroit Tigers traded Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a move that's going to be very heavily scrutinized for many years to come.

But, from the Tigers' perspective, trading him this summer made sense to ensure they didn't lose him in free agency for essentially nothing. Instead, they got some good prospects from the Dodgers for a half-season of Skubal.

But, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale highlighted, the Tigers' decision to trade Skubal is still questioned by some MLB executives. Not necessarily the decision itself, but rather the timing of their trade happening days before the deadline.

MLB execs question timing of Tigers trade of Tarik Skubal

"Rival executives still can't understand why the Detroit Tigers didn't wait until the last few hours of the trade deadline to move ace Tarik Skubal, driving the price up even further for the Dodgers or perhaps forcing the Milwaukee Brewers to raise their offer," Nightengale reports.

This sentiment is an understandable one from MLB executives, as if the Tigers had waited until Monday, August 3, instead of dealing Skubal on Saturday, they might've been able to land a haul with more teams involved.

One MLB executive said, "Their return package was fine, but why not wait? They could have at least bluffed to see if they could get more."

There have been some questions about the timing of the trade, especially when the Tigers had more than two days to trade Skubal at the time of their deal.

In an ideal world, the Tigers wait, drive up the price, and get an even better return for Skubal than the Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith package.

But that's only in an ideal world. In reality, the Tigers waiting until deadline day, especially in the last hours before the deadline passes, would be far too risky for such an important trade.

MORE: Tigers feared Tarik Skubal’s trade market would disappear if they waited too long to trade him

If a physical is failed, and other teams decide to pivot to other options, it could have worked out that the Tigers had to scramble to trade Skubal for an even worse return than they got.

Such a future might not have come to pass had they waited, but if the Dodgers pivoted, and the Brewers decide to spend their prospect resources elsewhere with the Skubal talks stalling, it would've been a major risk for the Tigers to take.

Considering that they might not have even received a better offer than the one they actually accepted, it's easy to see why the Tigers accepted a trade on Saturday instead of dragging out the sweepstakes until Monday.

Simply put, the risk-reward isn't worth it for the Tigers. Trading Skubal is such an important decision that making it as simple as possible was key.

Moving him on Saturday gave the Tigers a buffer if needed and helped them formulate the rest of their deadline plans as well.

More MLB news:

• Phillies receive slightly worrying 65% playoff odds projection from ESPN
• Red Sox get 8.2% chance to win World Series, which is more than Yankees’ odds
• Dave Dombrowski reveals why Phillies didn't trade for a righty-hitting outfielder
• Brewers ‘toyed’ with idea of trading for Padres closer Mason Miller
• Yankees ‘dabbled’ in trade talks for Tarik Skubal despite not willing to deal George Lombard Jr.