Tarik Skubal

[Sour Masher]

I know, which is why i find it shocking that Sour Masher expects Skubal to go for a lot of money....it just makes no sense to me.

I don't think he would go for a lot of money--just more than a year extension. The difference, to me, is those pitchers were definitely out for the year when they were in auction. Projections have Skubal back by the second half of 2023. In any event, I was able to move him last night for prospects Angel Martinez and Edoaurd Julien to a guy who currently plans on extending him for two years.

The reason I think I got Verlander for as much as I did is I am guessing most did not think Verlander would be able to come back and be as great as he has. I know I had my doubts. In hindsight, I obviously should not have traded him as a throw in. I have never seen anything like the guy.

[chancellor]

I don't typically pursue such players, but I don't know if they are overpriced. I really should bid more on them, even if it is just because I know their perceived value gets even higher in-season than whatever else I could spend the money on. Another contender this year spent $13 on Tyler Glasnow and eventually was able to flip him for Zach Wheeler. In hindsight, I probably should have paid more for Glasnow, because I knew he would be a good trade chip eventually. But I just can't bring myself to burn the IL/roster spot, even though we have several of both.

This was more where I was concerned - opportunity cost of a roster slot instead of any cost considerations. My betting line is his expected date back is a best-case scenario, so keeping Skubal on your roster means you'll need to move him to IL and backfill with a reserve pick (or make a trade), and the performance delta between a pitcher you could get out of the auction and one you'd get as a reserve could be significant, especially since you seem to compete for first place in your league most of the time. Your point about perceived value ties in well, too, since if you could trade him after about six weeks to a dumper and get a great return, it might be worth the six-week delta in statistics between your reserve pitcher and an auction pitcher. But Skubal just doesn't have that high of perceived value yet.