CHICAGO -- With two weeks until the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Detroit Tigers understand what's in front of them: win and keep All-Star Tarik Skubal, or slide back in the standings, in which case he'd probably be traded. It comes down to a late July push -- one that manager A.J. Hinch says has been going on for a while.
"We've been playing Game 7 since May," Hinch said before Monday's 8-6 win over the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings. "We know what's ahead. We know what the conversation around our team is. Tarik is in the news every single day because someone has a dream trade to make up -- yet we have a game to win that night."
Skubal has a 2.97 ERA in seven games since returning from a six-week elbow injury that coincided with a May skid for Detroit. The Tigers have been trying to climb back into the playoff race since, looking to do so before team brass has to make a decision on the soon-to-be free agent. Going into Monday's game, the Tigers were 4½ games back in the American League wild-card race but with six teams to overcome.
"We're taking it with open arms, that it's part of our identity," Hinch said of the trade talk. "We've got to block out all the news of what's ahead the next few weeks and get to winning games."
The Tigers might actually be more focused on the American League Central than the wild-card race despite being 6½ games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox. Going into Monday's games, FanGraphs gave Detroit a 16% chance of winning the division -- which is several percentage points higher than its wild-card odds. The Tigers also have played the fewest games against divisional foes, lending more hope to a surge there.
"We're not naïve that we need to win more games in order for us to maintain our trajectory," Hinch said.
Otherwise, a multiteam pursuit of Skubal could take place with the Tigers the beneficiary of another team's top-five prospect. Detroit wants to avoid that scenario, and getting healthy at the right time can only help. Veteran infielder Gleyber Torres was activated from the injured list Monday, and infielder/outfielder Javier Baez (ankle) is set to begin a rehab outing for Class-A Lakeland on Tuesday.
"I'll ease him back in," Hinch said of Torres. "He may not play every single day for the next 10 days but a big boost for us."
