What happened: Tarik Skubal spent nearly 10 minutes at his locker Thursday addressing trade speculation ahead of the August 3 deadline, saying he'd prefer to finish the season with Detroit. He acknowledged Friday's scheduled start could be his last outing for the Tigers.
Why it matters: Detroit has fielded interest in Skubal from clubs including the Dodgers, described as the deadline's most aggressive buyer, as the Tigers trail in the wild-card race. A trade of their ace would mark one of the deadline's biggest moves and reshape the rotation math for any acquiring team.
By the numbers: Detroit sits 4.5 games back in the wild-card chase, with the trade deadline set for August 3.
What to watch: Watch Skubal's Friday start for any signal on his Tigers future, with the August 3 deadline the hard cutoff for a deal.