Reds legend snubs Tarik Skubal, Max Fried, Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 22-year-old ace in hypothetical draft

The Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal, the New York Yankees' Max Fried and the LA Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto are three of the best-performing aces in MLB this season.

They are predicted to be in the running when the Cy Young award is handed out in November, if they continue dominating.

On Tuesday, Cincinnati Reds legend Sean Casey was tasked with hypothetically drafting one ace out of the trio or 22-year-old phenom Paul Skenes.

"You know what, this is such a hard question, because those guys (Paul Skenes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Max Fried) are the elite of the elite," Casey said, via 'The Mayor's Office.' But because Skenes is 22, I'm taking him, and he was with the Air Force Academy, I'm taking him. There's just something about Paul Skenes I just love, dude.

"All those guys are incredible, Skubal's so nasty. Yamamoto's split is incredible. Where would the Yankees be without Max Fried? That might be the best signing of the offseason. But I just love Skenes and what he's doing."

Tarik Skubal, Max Fried and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have helped their teams enjoy plenty of success this season

Tarik Skubal, Max Fried and Yoshinobu Yamamoto helped ensure their teams enjoyed plenty of success in the first month of the season.

Heading into 2025 after winning the AL Cy Young award, Skubal has gotten even better. The Detroit Tigers are at the top of the AL Central with a 28-15 record, firmly establishing themselves as dark horse candidates to win it all this year.

(Left to Right) Tarik Skubal, Max Fried and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Images from - Getty)

Fried arrived in the Bronx last offseason, signing an eight-year $218 million deal. The ace has been worth the investment, helping the Yankees lead the AL East with relative ease.

Yamamoto, who ended 2024 on a high note, winning his first-ever World Series title, has been as dominant as he was in the postseason. The Dodgers are leading the competitive NL West with a 27-15 record.

These three aces will play important roles for their teams in the postseason come October.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez