Yankees Tabbed to Score Cy Young Winner For Big Package of Promising Prospects
Should the Yankees go all-in for Tarik Skubal?
The New York Yankees are always at the center of trade and free agency rumors. While some pundits will mull over the hopeful return of Cody Bellinger or the addition of Kyle Tucker or even Kyle Schwarber, an impactful pitcher should also be discussed. Enter Tarik Skubal.
In an explorative thought piece, Jim Bowden has described the kind of trade package it would take to land Skubal. Should the Yankees put a four-player package together to add the best starting pitcher in baseball? Or are they better off keeping all four of their assets and adding a free agent instead? Let’s take a look.
Yankees Tabbed to Trade 4 Players For Tarik Skubal
The Athletic’s scribe believes that a four-player package could get a deal done for the Yankees to add the best pitcher in baseball. Bowden proposes a package of Spencer Jones, Will Warren, Carlos Lagrange, and Bryce Cunningham.
Bowden believes that Bowden’s tools as an outfielder will be enticing for the Detroit Tigers.
“They could start their proposal with outfielder Spencer Jones, who has an enticing blend of power and speed,” Bowden wrote on November 20, 2025. “As demonstrated by his 35 home runs and 29 stolen bases at Double A and Triple A this past season. He also can play all three outfield positions and is above-average defensively at the corners.”
In addition to Jones, the Tigers would also add Warren. Bowden reasons that Warren could jump into the Tigers’ rotation immediately.
“He has a plus four-seam fastball in terms of results, though the pitch sits in the 93-95 mph range,” Bowden writes. “He also throws a sinker, a changeup, a sweeper, and a curveball. He’d be able to jump right into the Tigers’ rotation.”
The Yankees would also need to add their top pitching prospect in Lagrange.
“Lagrange is arguably the Yankees’ top pitching prospect,” Bowden reveals. “The 6-foot-7 right-hander can hit 102 mph with his fastball, and he has a pair of breaking balls that can be plus at times. He can rack up the strikeouts at a high rate (12.6 per nine innings in 2025), though the walk rate still needs to come down significantly.”
The final piece in a Skubal package would be Cunningham. Bowden believes he is a high-potential prospect who will start the year in Double-A.
Best Free Agency Options Don’t Come Close
If Skubal can be acquired, he is the best option available. He finished the 2025 season with 31 games, one complete game shutout, 241 strikeouts, a 0.89 WHIP, to go along with a 2.21 ERA in 195 innings of work.
But how does he compare to the free agent market?
The top available free agent pitchers are the trio of Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, and Tatsuya Imai. Their stats show their value, but are they in the same ballpark as Skubal?
Cease is coming off a 32-game, 215-strikeout season, where he earned a 1.33 WHIP and a 4.55 ERA. Valdez threw 187 strikeouts in 192 innings across 31 games, where he recorded a 1.24 WHIP.
With Imai, he has recently been posted to the MLB over the last few days. In his 2025 NPB season, he recorded a 1.92 ERA in 24 games. Imai pitched five complete games, including three shutouts. He also recorded an impressive 0.89 WHIP over 163 innings.
Imai’s numbers this season were incredible. However, the MLB is a big step up from the NPB, so Imai will likely see a drop-off in his great statistics once he joins the MLB.
Cease is the closest to Skubal’s level, but is less of a sure thing than Skubal.
The price to acquire an ace like Skubal is understandably high. However, when a team has an opportunity to land the reigning Cy Young Champion, it’s a no-brainer transaction.
Packers Star Issues Bold Warning Ahead of Week 12 Matchup
In Week 1, the Packers welcomed the Lions to Lambeau Field for the season opener, and took an impressive 27-13 win that seemed to announce Green Bay as the team to beat in the NFC North. Of course, much has happened since, as the Packers swung wildly from an impressive two opening games to a spate of offensive malfunction and inconsistency that has baffled the team all season.
Now, the Packers sit at 6-3-1 and coming off a win over the Giants after two befuddling losses to the Panthers and Eagles. The tumult of the past month has been the bad news, but the good news in all of this is that Green Bay is now heading into the stretch run of its schedule still very much in position to take control of the division.
That’s because, after the win over the Lions, the Packers have yet to even play another division game. That changes on Sunday, though, when the Packers will welcome the Vikings, and will play five of their final seven games against North foes.
Packers Were 1-5 vs. NFC North in 2024
Last year, Green Bay was 1-5 against the NFC North. The key now, says star cornerback Keisean Nixon, is to reverse that output here in 2025. And he is warning his teammates to remain “locked in” and not to take anything lightly down the stretch.
“It’s super-important. You know, last year, we went 1-5. It’s not where we wanted to be as a team in this division,” Nixon said at practice on Wednesday. “I think this year, we want to provide like a new outlook of what type of team that we are. We don’t want to repeat that same stuff that we did last year. It’s an important game, all division games are important. We’ve taken it very seriously.
“Obviously, today we have had a really good day of practice. And we know that we have a tough stretch these last however many games that we have. We know that a majority of them are division games. We’ve got to be focused and locked in.”
Keisean Nixon Says Packers Already Had Their Down Moments
The Packers are a long way from the team that, however briefly, speculated that it could go undefeated. Nixon is putting a positive spin on the way things have sometimes spiraled for the Packers, as in the 13-10 loss against the lowly Browns and the 16-13 loss at home to the Panthers, a team that Green Bay ought to outman.
The Packers, it could be, have done their learning from adversity and will move forward from here.
“I think we’ve been through, already, some adverse moments. Obviously, we have had some games where we had to learn from it,” Nixon said. “They resulted in Ls but that’s always a learning experience. I think this team, we have been tested in that aspect. Seeing who is gonna stay together and if we’re gonna split apart.
“I think we’ve done a great job of all staying together and I think that’s gonna help us in this stretch moving forward.”
Don’t Take JJ McCarthy Lightly, Keisean Nixon Warns
The Vikings enter the game having lost four out of five games, and with second-year quarterback JJ McCarthy back under center. McCarthy has talent, but his lack of experience has shown–the Vikings are 2-3 in his starts, and scored just 36 total points in the past two weeks.
Again, Nixon warns the Packers not to take McCarthy and the Vikings lightly.
“We’ve got to make sure we are on our Ps and Qs and we know exactly what we are doing within these calls so we can go out there and execute and be a dominant defense. …” he said.
“They have really good playmakers where they can make the game a little bit easier for him. And sometimes that negates how many opps we have. Their OC is really good, they are going to try to pass the ball. From a back-end perspective, we gotta make sure we are doing what we are supposed to do.”
