Cleveland Guardians fans are settling in for what could be a familiar offseason. That is, months filled with only minor additions while other teams sign stars and big names. Signing Austin Hedges to a one-year deal won’t be nearly enough to quiet the fans on social media.

It is still very early and we have seen the MLB offseason drag on for months in recent years. Unlike the NFL and NBA, deals aren’t signed immediately in the offseason. Star players may wait until February or even March to make their final decision. So it’s still entirely possible the Guardians do make a splash or two between Thanksgiving and the start of the season in March.

Even if they don’t, there is an intriguing possibility that improves the team’s playoff chances.

That would be the rival Detroit Tigers trading Tarik Skubal away in the final year of team control.

Skubal is not going around demanding a trade. But he is getting more and more expensive and may command a deal worth over $300 million next offseason. Spotrac lists his market value at an 8-year deal worth $299 million.

The logic of trading him in the offseason would be for the Tigers to get maximum value in return. Waiting until the trade deadline decreases the potential return, while not trading him at all creates the possibility of him leaving for nothing in return next year. Most teams try to avoid that reality from coming to fruition.

This is a dynamic situation and one the Tigers will have to figure out in terms of paying him or trading him. But what does it mean for the Guardians if Skubal is traded away?

This would instantly remove arguably the best pitcher in baseball from the AL Central. He has a career 2.33 ERA against the Guardians and his last start against the team was a dominant outing in Game 1 of this year’s Wild Card Series. Skubal went 7.2 innings and struck out 14 in a 2-1 Tigers victory.

He set the tone and completely demoralized the Cleveland offense following the Guardians’ historic run to the postseason after overtaking the Tigers in the regular-season standings.

Skubal is irreplaceable, no matter the return, and would knock the Tigers down a peg or two in terms of 2026 expectations. With the Minnesota Twins undergoing a reset and the Chicago White Sox, well, being the White Sox, the Guardians would seemingly be in a three-team race with the reeling Tigers and the Kansas City Royals.

If Skubal is traded, Guardians fans won’t totally accept an offseason where the front office makes no major additions. But it would at least give the team a boost in terms of 2026 contention by removing a two-time Cy Young winner from direct competition.