If you’re putting together a list of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season, the Tigers might belong at the top.

Detroit is sitting in last place in the AL Central, 9.5 games back of the Guardians. They’ve lost 14 of their last 16 games, have an entire rotation on the IL, and because of that, the rumors swirling around two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal are only just beginning.

The Braves going after Skubal isn’t something we’ve seen Alex Anthopoulos do at any point as general manager. He generally runs the other direction when it comes to bidding wars for marquee starting pitchers. That said, the hypothetical price tags executives have placed on Skubal aren’t exactly outlandish.

“I don’t think anyone can answer that. I don’t think we have ever seen a pitcher this good coming off such a bizarre injury. He’s playing for a team that is trying to win themselves, so there are so many factors at play. If I had to answer, I’d say one top-100 prospect plus a top-15 and one more throw in,” one executive told MLB insider Robert Murray of Fansided.

“It would have to be a [Dave] Dombrowski or [AJ] Preller to get a top prospect. Everyone else treats it like Wall Street and asset value so my guess is a couple of top 10 prospects for a couple months of him,” another executive said. “Or [Andrew] Friedman could go out and get him. He ups a team’s chances to win the World Series by a pretty big margin. You get two starts in that five-game series. Friedman gets him, that’s my prediction.”

A lot of this comes down to Skubal’s return from injury, of course. He had a procedure to remove loose bodies in his elbow, with an initial expectation of missing a couple of months — but he’s already throwing bullpens and a return to the mound appears to be around the corner.

The other factor is whether the Tigers can sneak back into contention. It’s unlikely, but in the AL Central, anything is possible with this much time remaining on the schedule.

But for argument’s sake — let’s say Skubal returns healthy and Detroit decides to sell at the deadline. Would you give up a top-100 prospect plus a couple of mid-tier pieces for two months of Tarik Skubal?

The Braves have five guys I’d consider top-100 caliber — Cam Caminiti, Didier Fuentes, Eric Hartman, JR Ritchie, and John Gil. One of them would have to go in the deal, and while that would sting, the thought of Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale leading this rotation in October is something dreams are made of.

One more thing worth considering, raised by one of the executives in Murray’s piece — a trade for Skubal is going to be difficult for a lot of clubs simply because of the money. Not many teams have an extra $10-15 million sitting around for a midseason addition. The Braves, however, do — thanks to the Jurickson Profar suspension that wiped out his salary right before Opening Day.

So Anthopoulos has the prospects and the cash to make a move like this happen. That’s not something the Braves could say with confidence in years past.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)