The main character of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline this season is someone who may not actually change teams: Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.Skubal, the American League’s Cy Young Award winner the last two seasons, is a game-changer. Also, he is set for free agency after this season. And the Tigers (48-54, 4 1/2 games out in the wild-card standings) are not a lock to make the playoffs, let alone threaten a meaningful postseason run.“I think they hold him,” one National League exec mused, noting the mediocrity of the American League, and how the Tigers are one good week from being back into contention.“How could you not trade him?” said a different NL official, looking at Detroit’s meh performance over 100-plus games and the astronomical return a true No. 1 starter could fetch in a seller’s market.That debate will likely consume Detroit’s front office in the days ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris will take that time to reassess the outlook for the club, which was hammered by early injuries but is playing in a division that remains winnable.This team was not built to be disassembled.Framber Valdez signed a three-year, $115 million contract before the start of spring training with the idea that he could line up behind Skubal in a playoff rotation. Justin Verlander didn’t come back to Detroit, the last stop on a Cooperstown-worthy career, so that he could watch a sell-off at the deadline. Extending a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer to Gleyber Torres last offseason helped push Detroit’s Opening Day commitments past $200 million and into the sport’s top 10 payrolls.Although time is running out, the Tigers still have an opportunity to change the trajectory of their season. Their last 10 games before the deadline are all against teams that are sub-.500. They are scheduled to play the three teams in front of them in the AL Central 20 more times in August and September.With just under two weeks left before the deadline, the industry’s biggest question is whether or not the Tigers end up dealing the left-hander.Just in case they do, and after speaking with officials from various organizations across the league, The Athletic weighed every club’s chances of trading for Skubal and grouped those potential landing spots.Tier 9: Not happeningTeams: