ESPN’s top Tarik Skubal trade idea may be best possible case scenario for onlooking Royals

While he Kansas City Royals are still reportedly in limbo of what direction to take at the trade deadline, whether they buy or sell one thing is almost a certainty…they won’t be in the market for Tarik Skubal. Not only is he the top target on the market and demand King’s ransom for just a half season, he’d likely be all the more expensive for the Royals if they were interested given that he’s on a division rival. The Royals simply don’t have that type of prospect capital to push a deal of this nature over the line.

That being said, a Skubal trade will make waves across the league and especially the AL Central regardless, so the Royals will surely be watching closely and hoping for an outcome that doesn’t have too many ramifications on their own competitive future. And if Jeff Passan of ESPN’s top Skubal trade idea comes to fruition, the Royals will likely be as pleased as they could be.

Of the nine trade ideas Passan posed on Monday, the one that he feels would be “the one that gets it done” for the Tigers, is one involving the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange for Skubal in this scenario, the Dodgers would send major league starter Emmet Sheehan to Detroit alongside MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 overall prospect in MLB in Zyhir Hope and an unranked Dodgers infield prospect in 2025 fourth-rounder Aidan West.

Royals could live with Tigers’ return in ESPN’s top proposed trade idea for Tarik Skubal

Now, the addition of a young outfield talent Zyhir Hope to the division is certainly not a sight any contending rival would want to deal with in the future. He’s a Top 20 prospect in baseball for a reason with MLB Pipeline raves about his power and arm tools, giving him 60 grades on each. Along with that, he really has no true weakness with 55 grades on his run and fielding tools and a respectable 50 grade hit tool.

While he may sport a bit of high K-rate – 24.7% in Double-A Tulsa this season, in his first full season in the upper minors, a .294 AVG, .879 OPS and 127 wRC+ with 13 homers and 55 RBI is nothing to shake a stick at, especially for a 21-year-old.

That being said, for a back-to-back Cy Young winning talent like Skubal, he was always going to generate a strong prospect in return. However, the other names look fairly favorable for a division rival like the Royals given the circumstances.

Emmet Sheehan has proven to be a serviceable major league starter. That being said though, after his strong looking 15-outing season with the Dodgers last season – where he threw to a 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and .184 BAA – his 4.70 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and .245 BAA in 2026 looks rather pedestrian. While his strikeout abilities are something to behold, his ability to limit hard contact have looked average to below average across the board.

Then, when it comes to West, he’s a 19-year-old prospect still playing in the Complex leagues. While his first glimpse of professional ball looks impressive enough, with a .954 OPS and 129 wRC+ in 15 games, he’s still a long was out from making a major league impact and is certainly more of a flier than anything at this point.

Tarik Skubal going to the National League is an AL contender’s dream

What also can’t be overlooked is that this deal would not only get Skubal out of the AL Central, but the American League in general. While the Royals’ focus this year should be on clawing their way back into the postseason fold, eventually, with talent like Bobby Witt Jr. locked up for the foreseeable future, competing for a pennant should be their goal down the road.

Not only does getting Skubal out of the American League landscape help achieve that, but sending him to a lucrative powerhouse like the Dodgers may be even better. Sure the rich get richer, but in all likelihood, they were likely going to be the frontrunner for him free agency this winter anyways – as they’ve been for every top free agent in recent offseasons. If a half-decent return going back to the Tigers is the price to pay for getting Skubal out of the Royals competitive path sooner, then so be it.

For the Tigers, while still a talented team on paper even without Skubal, despite underperforming in 2026 as well, their rotation doesn’t seem nearly as fear-inducing without Skubal. Sure, they’ll still have Framber Valdez for at least another season, but even he hasn’t looked like the ace he once was in Houston before arriving in the Motor City. After that, while crafty in some sense, a remaining rotation headlined Casey Mize, Keider Montero and Reese Olson doesn’t come without it’s question marks. And who knows how Tommy John surgery will affect former top prospect Jackson Jobe when he returns.

For the Royals, beggars can’t be choosers and Skubal will go where Skubal goes. However, the thought of him potentially packing his backs for the NL West should be a welcome sight for their future contending ambitions in the American League.