The Free Press’ Ryan Ford delivers an instant grade of the Detroit Tigers’ blockbuster trade sending Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package of prospects on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Grading Tarik Skubal for Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith
This is probably the best return the Tigers could get for Skubal – even if the trio of prospects is a bit reminiscent of 2017’s return for Justin Verlander – from a Dodgers organization packed with prospects (with apologies to the Milwaukee Brewers’ top-ranked farm system).
The gem of the deal is outfield Zyhir Hope, who has crushed it as a 21-year-old in Double-A: 23 homers and 17 doubles while hitting .293 in 94 games. But that’s after just 13 homers last season, spent with the High-A Great Lakes Loons and Double-A Tulsa. As a 20-year-old.
Still, compare his numbers to Max Clark’s totals in Double-A as a 20-year-old last season – .252 with seven homers and five doubles in 43 games – and it’s not hard to start drooling over next season’s potential outfield featuring Riley Greene, Clark and Hope.
The arms are less impressive, though Ryan was generally acknowledged to have some of the best stuff – though not the best results – in the Dodgers’ organization before losing his entire 2025 season to Tommy John surgery. His fastball, which tops out at 100 mph, might remind you of Jackson Jobe − though, at 27, Ryan is much further along the prospect path. Smith, meanwhile, had his Tommy John surgery in 2024, and is still looking to rediscover his control. He’s young, at least, with a potential 2029 debut (though he’ll need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft starting in 2027).
The grade: B
Ryan Ford is deputy sports editor for the Free Press and has been with Freep Sports since January 2006. Contact him at rford@freepress.com or follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford and on BlueSky at @theford.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal trade grade: How did Detroit Tigers fare in blockbuster?
Reporting by Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
