Proposed Tarik Skubal trade would weaken Cubs' bench, but finally give them an ace

If you think the month of May went poorly for the Chicago Cubs and are looking for a pick-me-up, just look at the Detroit Tigers. You'll quickly understand that things could be much worse.

The Tigers went 6-22 in May (compared to the Cubs' 13-16, which included a 10-game losing streak) and entered Monday 11 1/2 out in the American League Central after heading into the year as division favorites. That's led to rampant speculation that, assuming he's healthy, Tarik Skubal will be traded ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.

Over at The Athletic (subscription required), Jim Bowden picked seven potential landing spots for the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner - and, of course, the Cubs were among them. I talked about it over the weekend: yes, Chicago needs a big-time starting pitcher. Nobody is questioning that. Matching the two sides up, though, is far from a smooth exercise.

Here's what Bowden put together.

As you can see, the Cubs get Skubal (or, rather, two months of him) - but in doing so, their position player depth is hit with a wrecking ball, with Kevin Alcántara and Matt Shaw both going to Detroit in the deal, along with right-hander Dominick Reid, the team's third-round pick a year ago.

Jed Hoyer tasked with choosing between 2026 and the coming years

Heading into October with Skubal atop the rotation feels awfully nice, but losing both Alcántara and Shaw could hurt - especially in 2027. In the short-term, even, a major injury to Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner or Alex Bregman would, all of the sudden, force Pedro Ramirez into an everyday role. That's not to say he can't handle it, but Shaw has done the job and brings the experience.

Alcántara hasn't been given any runway at all since being called up from Triple-A Iowa (he has a total of six plate appearances with the Cubs) given the team's crowded outfield picture, but with Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki both free agents at year's end, there's a clear path for him to be an everyday guy as soon as next year.

My faith in the Cubs' ability to effectively and consistently develop pitching isn't great, so Reid isn't a major concern for me in the deal. It's more about decimating your position player depth both this year and long-term for what we all know will be a very short run with Skubal because, let's face it, the Cubs aren't going to be the team to make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history.

Last year, Jed Hoyer refused to jump in feet-first and wound up settling for Michael Soroka in a major deadline disappointment. The team's recent play surely hasn't inspired him to push his chips to the middle of the table - but a return to form and a strong June might be enough for him to take a run at the Tigers' ace.

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