It’s May 28 and it’s getting late early in Detroit. Preseason favorites to win the American League Central, the Tigers begin Thursday in last place and facing an uphill climb for even a wild-card berth.There’s still some time left for the Tigers to turn around their season — I’d give this roster another month to get back in the race — but given where they are in the standings, the Tigers front office should start to plan for a scenario in which they are sellers at the Aug. 3 trade deadline rather than buyers. And if they are selling, Detroit will have the biggest trade chip on the market to deal in two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. It’s time for them to start testing the waters on a potential Skubal deal so that if and when they do decide to be sellers, they can move on a deal decisively.The stark reality is that the Tigers won’t be able to extend Skubal before he hits free agency in the offseason. They can’t let him walk in exchange only for draft pick compensation like the Los Angeles Angels did with Shohei Ohtani in 2023, a decision that has set them back years. Detroit should start thinking about 2027 and beyond right now.The reason the Tigers shouldn’t wait to shop Skubal is because the earlier they trade him, the bigger the prospect return will be. If they trade him in, say, a month, the team acquiring him will get him for July, August, September and the postseason. If instead they wait to trade Skubal until the deadline, the team acquiring him will only have him for two months of the regular season plus October — the trade value goes way down.As the Tigers contemplate a potential Skubal deal, they should consider a willingness to eat some of Skubal’s contract to get back a better return. Even though he’s in his walk year, Skubal is still valuable enough that trading him could be a game-changing deal that could really shape their long-term future.Of course, Skubal will first have to prove himself healthy and start pitching like he did the last two seasons to get the return the Tigers need.In the meantime, since there will be so many contending teams that will have interest in Skubal, it’s important for the Tigers to start getting a sense of the market now. Find out early what prospects will be “off the table”, whether teams will take on the remaining salary on Skubal’s contract, gauge interest in any other veteran Tigers players and exchange medicals, so the clubs are comfortable that the loose body that was removed from Skubal’s elbow was truly the only medical issue.With all that in mind, let’s look at the other 29 MLB teams and see where the possible fits for Skubal and the Tigers could be:NL EastAtlanta Braves — Atlanta already has a solid top of the rotation with Chris Sale, Bryce Elder and Spencer Strider. Team president Alex Anthopoulos would take the call and see what a potential deal would look like, but it’s a long shot that he’d put all his chips in to land Skubal.Philadelphia Phillies — Like Atlanta, the Phillies have a strong trio at the top of their rotation with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo. They also don’t have a particularly deep farm system, which makes them an unlikely landing spot for Skubal.Washington Nationals — The Nationals are off to a great start and have the best offense in baseball, but their pitching is more than a Tarik Skubal away from being a legitimate contender. They do have the farm system to get a deal done, but they are still building long-term and won’t be players here.