{"id":979770,"date":"2026-08-04T09:17:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/979770\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T09:17:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:17:46","slug":"were-not-raising-the-white-flag-scott-harris-says-detroit-tigers-can-make-playoffs-after-deadline-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/979770\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re not raising the white flag\u2019: Scott Harris says Detroit Tigers can make playoffs after deadline deals"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT<\/strong> \u2013 Detroit Tigers<\/b><\/a> president of baseball operations Scott Harris<\/b><\/a> said that trading ace Tarik Skubal<\/b><\/a> and starting pitcher Casey Mize<\/b><\/a> before the MLB trade deadline was a difficult but necessary decision aimed at strengthening the franchise\u2019s long-term future without abandoning hope for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters after Monday\u2019s (Aug. 3) deadline, Harris said the Tigers\u2019 position, 2\u00bd games out of an American League wild-card spot, forced the organization to weigh its postseason chances against the opportunity to acquire high-end young talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate selling with every fiber in my body,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI absolutely hate it. But I thought it would be irresponsible not to do it given the markets that we had for Tarik and Casey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tigers dealt Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers and later traded Mize to the San Diego Padres, acquiring multiple highly regarded prospects in return.<\/p>\n

\u2192 <\/b>Detroit Tigers receive top pitching prospects Kash Mayfield, Jackson Wolf from Padres in Casey Mize trade<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Harris said his decision centered on two questions: whether Detroit had done enough to justify trading away future talent to add at the deadline and whether simply keeping Skubal and Mize through the end of the season was worth passing on premium prospect packages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we played well enough,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I did enough for this organization to justify trading a significant part of our future for the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris praises departing stars<\/p>\n

Before discussing the trades, Harris thanked both pitchers for their contributions to the organization.<\/p>\n

He praised Skubal and Mize not only for their performances on the field but also for their work ethic and commitment behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have made this organization better,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful for everything they have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Detroit targeted young pitching and power<\/p>\n

Harris said Detroit\u2019s priority was acquiring players capable of becoming impact major leaguers.<\/p>\n

He highlighted outfield prospect Zyhir Hope, acquired from the Dodgers, as a potential middle-of-the-order hitter with a rare combination of power and athleticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure if we were going to lose an impact player, we were also going to gain potential impact players,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

He also praised pitching prospects River Ryan, Kash Mayfield and Brady Smith, saying the Tigers needed to improve the organization\u2019s pitching depth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this current age of baseball, it is really hard to find elite stuff,\u201d Harris said of Ryan. \u201cGuys that have real potential to be front-of-the-rotation starters are really hard to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris rejects criticism of early Skubal trade<\/p>\n

Some observers questioned why Detroit completed the Skubal trade before deadline day rather than waiting for additional offers.<\/p>\n

Harris dismissed the criticism, saying the Tigers had already maximized the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notion that we should have waited 24 or 48 hours later and extracted more value, that\u2019s garbage,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThat\u2019s not how these negotiations work.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said multiple teams aggressively pursued Skubal and submitted their best offers before Detroit selected the Dodgers\u2019 package.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a bidding war,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThe Dodgers ultimately had the best deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tigers explored extension with Skubal<\/p>\n

Harris confirmed Detroit discussed a long-term contract extension with Skubal but said it became clear early that the reigning back-to-back Cy Young Award winner intended to test free agency after the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe explored an extension once,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThe response that I got from Tarik\u2019s agent was pretty clear that he was intent on going to free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said Skubal earned the right to explore the open market and should not be criticized for that decision.<\/p>\n

Injuries shaped deadline decisions<\/p>\n

Harris also pointed to an extraordinary wave of injuries as a major reason Detroit underperformed this season.<\/p>\n

He said the Tigers placed 35 players on the injured list before the trade deadline, creating roster and bullpen issues that derailed the club during a disastrous 6-22 month of May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really think it was possible to put 35 players on the injured list before the trade deadline,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

Harris accepted responsibility for the roster construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have built more depth,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI should have found ways to keep players healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tigers still believe playoff run is possible<\/p>\n

Despite moving two starting pitchers, Harris insisted the Tigers are not giving up on the season.<\/p>\n

Harris pointed to recent improvements in the lineup, defense and young pitching, along with several players expected to return from injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not raising the white flag,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThis team is talented enough to flip the script like the 2024 team did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said internal promotions and returning players could provide the boost Detroit needs over the final two months of the season rather than outside acquisitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have plenty of games left,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWe can flip the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2013 Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said that trading ace Tarik Skubal and starting…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":979771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[391222,47503,1885,392901,1266,27056,82189,62,34551,67,132,68,344351],"class_list":["post-979770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-brady-smith","tag-casey-mize","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-kash-mayfield","tag-mlb","tag-river-ryan","tag-scott-harris","tag-sports","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-zyhir-hope"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117036495990332879","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/979771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}