Cubs’ trade-deadline search for pitching includes Tarik Skubal, sources say

ST. LOUIS — In a wide-ranging search for pitching reinforcements, the Chicago Cubs are considering Tarik Skubal as their blockbuster option ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, according to several baseball officials who were granted anonymity to candidly discuss a still-developing market.

Skubal, the American League’s Cy Young Award winner for the past two seasons, made perhaps his final start in a Detroit Tigers uniform in Wednesday’s 10-9 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. The 12-inning defeat left the Tigers with a 51-58 record that still kept them on the edges of the AL playoff picture.

With so many clubs stuck in that vast middle, Detroit’s predicament illustrates the fluid nature of this deadline. Skubal, who will become a free agent after this season, is the best player available by a wide margin, and the Tigers are expected to stick to an enormous valuation of his talent for the stretch run.

Crossing that threshold for a deal will be difficult for the Cubs, especially if organizations with deeper farm systems, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, make Skubal a priority.

While Chicago’s postseason probabilities are high, its chances of overtaking Milwaukee in the National League Central are low, meaning the Cubs are unlikely to receive a first-round bye. Starting the playoffs in the wild-card round reduces the World Series odds that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has repeatedly cited as a factor in how aggressive a front office should be at the trade deadline.

Hoyer has a close, longstanding relationship with his Detroit counterpart, Scott Harris, who earned a 2016 World Series ring while launching his career at Wrigley Field, and now runs the Tigers with a similarly systematic approach.

Another connection worth noting: Skubal has deep roots in Arizona, which would make spring training at the Cubs’ Mesa complex an appealing and convenient feature once he weighs his options as a free agent. Acquiring Skubal, who is represented by agent Scott Boras, would give the Cubs a head start on that recruiting presentation, though it would likely require a financial commitment to a pitcher that is unprecedented in franchise history.

The Cubs would still prefer to acquire a starting pitcher who remains under club control beyond this season, given the amount of work they will have to do to rebuild next year’s rotation. Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd can become free agents after this season, while Edward Cabrera, Justin Steele, Ben Brown and Cade Horton are all on the injured list. Various questions loom about when they will be available and how effective they will be going forward.

One internal interpretation of this week’s decision to designate Jameson Taillon for assignment is that the Cubs plan to be aggressive at the trade deadline. There are some intriguing names available.

As an All-Star under club control through 2027, Joe Ryan would be a great fit for the Cubs, but the Minnesota Twins are planning to buy at the deadline and continue competing for a playoff spot in the weakened AL, even while hovering around the .500 mark.

While the Los Angeles Angels employ two notable starting pitchers who are under club control through 2028, Reid Detmers and José Soriano, the club is being run by an interim general manager, John Mozeliak, adding some uncertainty about their direction. The Angels did trade two veterans on Wednesday night in a deal with the Texas Rangers, sending reliever Chase Silseth and catcher Logan O’Hoppe to Texas for a minor leaguer.

If the Cubs don’t find a good match in that category — controllable starters are always in high demand — the list of rental starting pitchers available includes Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Foster Griffin, Trevor Rogers, Casey Mize and Robbie Ray. Upgrading the bullpen is another possibility.

But acquiring an ace would dramatically reshape the pitching staff for the playoffs, giving manager Craig Counsell and his coaches more options to game plan for certain matchups and different situations.

In the coming weeks, the Cubs also anticipate activating several pitchers off the injured list, which would pack more talent into the bullpen and potentially add extra arms capable of throwing multiple innings.

In the meantime, the Cubs are 61-47 after Wednesday night’s 3-2 walk-off loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th inning at Busch Stadium, believing their team is already World Series-caliber and still on the upswing.

Cabrera is scheduled to make the first of three minor-league rehab starts on Friday with Triple-A Iowa. Steele is expected to do a light bullpen session this weekend at Wrigley Field. Brown is throwing regularly at the Arizona training complex, though Counsell tempered expectations with this observation: “He’s kind of a pre-spring training pitcher, essentially. Bullpens are a ways away.”

While burning through so much of their pitching depth, the Cubs have demonstrated persistence, flexibility and problem-solving skills. Even with all these injuries, the club is on pace to finish with 90-plus wins and bring playoff baseball back to Wrigley Field. Teams trending in this direction at the trade deadline think big.

“We have shown that we can play at a high level,” Counsell said. “The best thing about a major-league season is you can’t fake your record over 162 games. It’s too many games, so I feel like the teams that get to October, they’ve earned it.

“We got a long way to go with a challenging schedule, but I think this group has shown a really good record. The stuff that happens, I think it happens to every team. There’s been periods during the season when we’ve been up against it pretty good. And during those periods, especially, we’ve responded exceptionally well.”

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