Late Saturday night, the Detroit Tigers traded Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a half-eaten banana, a broken crayon, and a can of Spam.Ok, in actuality, the Tigers received River Ryan, who will turn 28 this month, is coming off Tommy John surgery and has a 4.46 ERA in Triple-A, the Dodgers No. 5 prospect in Zyhir Hope and their No. 17 prospect in Brady Smith.To be fair to Detroit, the Dodgers' farm system is so deep that Hope is MLB Pipeline's No. 25 prospect and has 23 home runs this year at Double-A Tulsa. The Tigers better hope he pans out.Ryan, despite the Tommy John surgery, is still the 68th-ranked prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. Pipeline projects a 2029 ETA for Smith to make the Majors, and with a 7.71 ERA in his first two starts in High-A, it is far from certain he makes it at all.The No. 25 and No. 68 prospects in baseball have been a crapshoot at best. Of the 10 prospects ranked 25th and 68th by MLB Pipeline from 2021-2025, Andy Pages is the only one with a WAR above 1.0 this season.Year#25 Prospect# 68 Prospect2026Zyhir HopeRiver Ryan2025Chase DollanderChristian Moore2024Jackson JobeJacob Wilson2023Ezequial TovarAdael Amador2022Kahlil WatsonAndy Pages2021Matt ManningHeston KjerstadThere are three primary implications of this trade for the Toronto Blue Jays that lead to one huge question.How Tarik Skubal Trade Impacts Blue JaysDetroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectThe market for rental pitchers is pretty weak. If the reigning two-time Cy Young winner only fetches this return, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Max Scherzer are unlikely to bring much back to Toronto. Gausman would clearly prefer to stay in Toronto, and his manager and teammates greatly appreciate him, but he understands the reality of baseball as a business. Detroit is one game ahead of Toronto in the Wild Card race and is clearly selling. Skubal is already gone, with Casey Mize likely to follow after the Tigers scratched him from his Friday start. The consensus early reaction across baseball to the Skubal trade is that his going to Los Angeles only increases the odds of a lockout next season. A lockout would mean any prospects the Blue Jays would receive in return for their rental pitchers would likely debut even further in the future, which decreases their value. Making the playoffs would also leave a better taste in Toronto fans' mouths if there were to be a lockout next year, which would undoubtedly sour fans on baseball in general.Heading into the weekend, Toronto was 5.5 games back in the Wild Card race. They looked like clear sellers.Two days later, they are just 3.5 games back. One of the teams ahead of them is selling. The returns for rental pitchers are not high. The Blue Jays have not yet sold any of their players. George Springer has indicated he has no plans to play anywhere else, and he can veto any trade as a 10/5 player (10 years of MLB service time, five years with the same team).The huge question this all raises is whether Toronto will reconsider selling? Might they even buy?Things are about to get very interesting.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow