Even if Tarik Skubal is still wearing the Old English D come Opening Day, the Tigers won't be out of the rumor-haunted woods until the trade deadline in late July. Unless they extend him (and they probably won't), two specters will hang over the entire year — a possible trade and an even more possible departure in free agency.
The Dodgers have been most actively connected to Skubal out of any of the usual suspects — Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, maybe Phillies — but those rumors have subsided, and SportsNet LA insider David Vassegh seems certain that a deal won't happen this offseason.