The Milwaukee Brewers were among the teams linked to Tarik Skubal before the 2026 MLB trade deadline. While the Los Angeles Dodgers ultimately ended up acquiring Skubal from the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee was in the conversation. In the end, the Brewers' failed Skubal trade pursuit ended up not mattering since they are now headed to the World Series after sweeping Skubal's Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Brewers owner Mark Attanasio recently addressed the team's pursuit of a Skubal trade back in July/early August, via The Show with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman.

“This team was built not bought,” Attanasio said. “It's critical to look at how we got here, and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being very careful about, you know, how many prospects we gave up. I asked (general manager) Matt Arnold, ‘Can we add anything to this package?' Detroit gave us a best and final. I think I might have said, ‘Are you sure, Matt?' I think best and final wasn't best and final.”

The Brewers simply feature a complete baseball team. Would Skubal have given them a boost? Sure, but Milwaukee did not necessarily need him. The pitching is already deep enough while the offense is more than capable of scoring runs despite not offering much home run prowess.

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It was difficult to argue against Milwaukee not acquiring Skubal in early August, and it will be an impossible argument to make if the ball club wins the World Series. Skubal is set to enter free agency this offseason, so Milwaukee would have lost multiple top prospects for a half-season rental who — and this in no way should be taken as disrespect to Skubal — the Brewers realistically did not need.