Around the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers made a serious run at two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and arguably made a significantly better offer than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

For the Brewers, this doesn't matter any longer. Milwaukee just won its first World Series title without having to deplete the farm system for a rental. Back in August, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported that Milwaukee offered No. 2 prospect Luis Pena, along with two other elite prospects. But Logan Henderson was off the table and the Detroit Tigers were looking for pitching. With the World Series now over, The Athletic's Andy McCullough dropped an intriguing nugget and shared that Milwaukee's offer for Skubal was Pena, Jett Williams and Josh Adamczewski.

"Despite Detroit's request, the Brewers were unwilling to include rookie righty Logan Henderson, according to people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely," McCullough wrote. "They opted to try to convince [Scott Harris] with a trio of well-regarded position player prospects: infielder Luis Pena, super-utility player Jett Williams and outfielder Josh Adamczewski. From there, the Brewers brass received radio silence until that evening when they saw Dodgers Double-A outfielder Zyhir Hope was scratched. Soon after, Harris called [Matt Arnold] to let him know Skubal would not be a Brewer."

Surprising, To Say The Least

Frankly, the fact that the Tigers didn't accept this offer is wild. Pena is the Brewers' No. 2 prospect and Adamczewski is No. 3. Williams is Milwaukee's No. 10 prospect. Pena is the No. 19 overall prospect in baseball right now. Adamczewski is the No. 85 overall prospect in baseball and Williams was the No. 58 overall prospect in the game in 2025. Injuries slowed him down in 2026, though.

When it comes specifically to Pena, he's a 19-year-old infielder who has put up numbers eerily similar to Jesus Made, MLB's No. 1 overall prospect, but who has dealt with injuries. Realistically, at this point next year, Pena should be significantly higher on the list of the top prospects in baseball.

The Tigers got Zyhir Hope (MLB's No. 26 prospect), River Ryan (No. 64 prospect) and right-handed pitcher Brady Smith. Milwaukee offered three elite offensive prospects and the difference was pitching. Ryan had a 4.39 ERA in 10 minor league starts in 2026 and a 4.15 ERA in two big league starts. This was after he missed the entire 2025 season as well. Ryan has upside, but question marks. The Tigers aimed high and tried to get Henderson, which would've been absurd.

The fact that a hurler with question marks was enough to move the needle enough to not accept the offer Milwaukee made is surprising. But, again, this doesn't matter anymore for the Brewers. Milwaukee just won its first World Series title in franchise history and still has Pena, Williams and Adamczewski all in the organization. The Brewers are built to contend for a long time and the Tigers arguably made a mistake.