Tarik Skubal and the Josh Hader Dilemma

Let's fast-forward to 2022. The Milwaukee Brewers, who were in playoff contention at the time, traded their No. 1 reliever, Josh Hader.

That's what Milwaukee does: when a player is nearing free agency and a contract that's too expensive for the Brewers, they trade him.

The problem was that they traded him at the deadline (he was a year and a half away from free agency) rather than during the offseason. Why? Because it hurt the players.

Losing a key player like him in the middle of the season had the effect of undermining the team's morale. And in hindsight, I don't think David Stearns, who was the Brewers' president at the time, would do it again if he could rewrite history.

The Brewers ultimately missed the playoffs that year, even though another closer came in to finish out the season. But the damage was done.

And the Tigers need to keep that in mind when it comes to Tarik Skubal. Trading him could also hurt the Michigan team, of course—even if he were replaced by a good starter and some top prospects, as Ken Rosenthal pointed out.

It was always a risk, given that the Tigers didn't trade the pitcher during the 2025–2026 offseason. They put themselves in that position.

But we must also remember this: the return the Brewers got for Hader is still helping the team today.

Esteury Ruiz was traded for William Contreras, and Robert Gasser is now a key part of the Brewers' rotation. Without them, 2026 would be tougher… but without Hader, 2022 was more difficult. Maybe the team missed its chance to win it all, and we'll never know.

Which poison will the Tigers choose? We'll find out by August 3.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.