Brewers’ reported offer for Tarik Skubal fell short before Dodgers deal

The Brewers offer for Tarik Skubal at the 2026 MLB trade deadline reportedly centered on three prospects, but it was not enough to get a deal done with the Detroit Tigers. Skubal instead went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, while Milwaukee pivoted elsewhere and went on to win the first championship in franchise history.

The sequence adds another layer to a dominant Brewers season. Milwaukee won an MLB-best 103 regular-season games, then beat the San Diego Padres in four games in the National League Division Series, swept the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in five games in the 2026 World Series.

What Milwaukee reportedly offered Detroit

Milwaukee reportedly offered Detroit infield prospects Luis Peña and Jett Williams, along with outfielder Josh Adamczewski, for Skubal at the deadline.

Peña was the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline, while Williams was listed as Milwaukee’s No. 10 prospect. Adamczewski was Milwaukee’s 15th-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Detroit sought more in return for Skubal, preferably a top position player prospect and a starting pitcher under team control for the foreseeable future. Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson was the most notable player the Tigers wanted in that framework, but Milwaukee refused to include him.

Why the Dodgers landed Skubal instead

The Tigers ultimately traded Skubal to the Dodgers for outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith.

Hope is now Detroit’s top prospect per MLB Pipeline. Ryan was the Dodgers’ No. 7 prospect at the time of the trade, while Smith was Los Angeles’ No. 17 prospect when the deal was made.

That return gave Detroit a different type of package than the one Milwaukee put forward. The Brewers’ offer included highly regarded position-player prospects, but Detroit’s asking point also included the kind of controllable pitching Milwaukee chose not to surrender.

Brewers pivoted and still dominated October

After missing out on Skubal, Milwaukee added pitching in other ways. The Brewers acquired starting pitcher Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero from the St. Louis Cardinals, along with right-handed reliever Antonio Senzatela from the Colorado Rockies.

Romero became part of the postseason run, allowing just one run over eight innings this postseason.

The Brewers did not need Skubal to get through the Dodgers. In fact, Skubal’s second postseason outing for Los Angeles came against Milwaukee in Game 1 of the NLCS, a 2-1 Dodgers loss. The Brewers went on to sweep Los Angeles before finishing their title run against Tampa Bay.

Skubal’s Dodgers stint and what comes next

Skubal’s 2026 campaign had been sidetracked for six weeks by an elbow injury and subsequent surgery, but he was excellent after joining Los Angeles. In the regular season with the Dodgers, he recorded a 2.61 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, a 162 ERA+ and 70 strikeouts across 62 innings pitched.

He also pitched well in the postseason, posting a 2.45 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and 14 strikeouts over 11 innings across two starts for Los Angeles.

Skubal will be 30 at the start of the 2027 MLB season and is set to hit free agency this offseason. Milwaukee, meanwhile, exits 2026 with a title and the knowledge that its deadline pivot helped support a roster that was already strong enough to finish the job.