Tarik Skubal trade rumors couldn't have surfaced at a worse time for Blue Jays

The baseball world always gravitates toward a blockbuster, and with the Detroit Tigers sitting at 21-32 (going into May 26), Tarik Skubal’s name is right back in the middle of trade speculation. For a Toronto Blue Jays team that has struggled to get back to .500 with a record of 25-29, the idea of adding a back-to-back Cy Young winner to the rotation sounds almost impossible to ignore.

As fun as it is to picture Skubal at the top of Toronto’s rotation heading into a playoff push, the Blue Jays are simply not in a position where this kind of gamble makes much sense. Not financially, not competitively, and honestly, not organizationally either. Even if they have been named as one of the four teams that will be bidding for his services, there may be way more smoke than fire when it comes to Skubal and the Blue Jays.

Blue Jays just need to get healthy before they can start dreaming about adding Skubal

With Dylan Cease now on the Injured List, the Blue Jays have just one pitcher in their starting rotation that began the season with them, and that's Kevin Gausman. Cody Ponce was lost for the season during his very first outing. Max Scherzer also hit the IL while Eric Lauer was DFA'd. Even one of the guys who was supposed to come back and help them has been lost for the season as José Berrios has undergone Tommy John Surgery.

Getting Trey Yesavage back at the end of April has been a major boost for the Blue Jays, but they are starting to have to scrape at the bottom of the barrel of their depth charts as the fifth starters role remains vacant, and they'll need a replacement for Cease (which has yet to be named as of the morning of May 26).

Adding Skubal right this instant would be an amazing fantasy / video game style move, but it just doesn't work that way in real life.

The biggest issue is that any team trading for Skubal is probably looking at a very short-term arrangement. His relationship with the Tigers reportedly took a serious hit during arbitration after the two sides went through a massive salary dispute.

And around baseball, there is already an expectation that Scott Boras will take him straight to free agency this winter. Once that happens, Skubal is going to be chasing one of the largest pitching contracts the sport has ever seen, potentially north of $400 million.

If Toronto were sitting comfortably atop the AL East, maybe you could justify emptying the system for two months of an ace. But this is still a Blue Jays team trying to climb back toward .500. That matters, a lot. Trading premium futures for a rental when you are still trying to prove you belong in the playoff picture is usually how organizations create long-term problems for themselves.

Then there’s the health side of it, which makes this even riskier. Skubal recently underwent surgery to remove loose bone bodies from his elbow after being shut down earlier this month. His rehab is reportedly progressing well, but it is still elbow surgery. Even minor procedures on pitchers tend to make front offices nervous, especially when the acquisition cost is going to be enormous regardless.

Even with the contract situation and injury concerns. The Tigers would still likely demand multiple premium prospects and even roster players to move one of the best pitchers in baseball. Detroit is not going to lower the price despite him potentially testing free agency this winter. And, rightfully so. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays just do not have the kind of prospect depth that other teams can throw around in bidding wars.

Toronto has bigger decisions coming over the next few months than forcing an all-in trade for a pitcher they may only have for a handful of starts. Skubal is the type of move that sounds exciting in theory, but once you start looking at the cost, it quickly feels like the kind of gamble that could backfire fast.

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