Tarik Skubal is scheduled to reach free agency next winter, and it would appear that any chances of an extension between the star southpaw and the Tigers are going from slim to none. As Skubal told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Tigers didn’t discuss a long-term contract with the left-hander this winter.
“There is no offer” from the team right now, Skubal said, and “there won’t be an offer until the end of the season….My focus is on playing baseball and winning this year. I’ll deal with the contract stuff at the end of the year, and then we’ll kind of see. And that’s fine. It’s their decision.”
There also weren’t any talks about even a one-year deal covering Skubal’s 2026 salary once Skubal filed for a $32MM figure in his final year of salary arbitration. This lack of talks was expected, since the Tigers adhere to the “file and trial” tactic adopted by most every big league team — if an agreement isn’t reached prior to the filing deadline, teams often cease all negotiations with the player unless the topic is a multi-year contract (or the work-around of a one-year deal with a mutual option attached for the following season).
Finding middle ground between the Tigers and Skubal in this particular situation may have been unlikely anyway, given how Skubal’s $32MM salary was meant to establish a new precedent for star pitchers (and, arguably all players) in their final year of arbitration eligibility. Detroit submitted a figure of $19MM, and the arbitration panel ruled in Skubal’s favor, in a very significant win for Skubal, agent Scott Boras, and the MLB players’ union.
As to the larger question of a long-term extension, the lack of fresh talks between the two sides is also perhaps not a surprise. Boras clients rarely opt for extensions over eventually testing free agency, and an even smaller number of Boras clients sign extensions when they’re this close to the open market. Assuming Skubal stays healthy and delivers another season akin to his 2024-25 performance, he is expected to command another precedent-setting free agent contract that would make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history.
Given the circumstances, the Tigers certainly wouldn’t be getting any kind of hometown discount in extension talks, and if anything would’ve had to pay a premium to convince Skubal to forego free agency. Faced with this reality, the Tigers may have considered further negotiations about a long-term deal to be somewhat pointless, if the club simply isn’t prepared to pay Skubal a price tag that seems likely to land well north of $350MM.
The Tigers did make Skubal an extension offer last winter, and Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported in October that this offer was a four-year deal worth less than $100MM that would’ve covered the 2025-28 seasons (Skubal’s final two arbitration-eligible years and his first two free agent years). For context, Skubal went close to 11 months between MLB starts due to a flexor tendon surgery that sidelined him for parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, so it could be that the Tigers were thinking Skubal might jump at some financial security in the wake of a serious injury. However, given that Skubal looked superb after his return in 2023 and then won the AL Cy Young Award in 2024, Detroit’s offer seemed bafflingly low in both dollars and length.
All signs seem to be pointing to 2026 being Skubal’s final season in Motown, though that doesn’t necessarily mean there are any hard feelings between the player and the team. It could that the two sides recognize the reality of the situation, and (as Skubal alluded) plan to spend the year aiming towards their shared goal of a World Series championship. There was some speculation that the Tigers were considering dealing Skubal this offseason, yet that scenario never seemed too likely both due to both Detroit’s big asking price, and the plain fact that a World Series push is easier when arguably baseball’s best pitcher is on your roster.
The Framber Valdez signing indicates that the Tigers are preparing for a post-Skubal rotation, though Valdez’s $115MM free agent deal is only three years long, and contains an opt-out after 2027. Skubal and Valdez headline what looks like a very solid rotation that also consists of Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, and Tigers legend Justin Verlander returning to the Motor City to complete the unfinished business of winning a ring in a Tigers uniform.
The Ilitch family needs to sell right now if they didn’t even bother to make an offer to the best SP in baseball (at least the best LHP)
He is going to reject anything but market value, it is very clear he wants max dollars, which is his right. But why piss him off with a 8 year 240 million offer?
@patriot
“Why piss him off with a $240 million offer”
Clearly they don’t care about pissing Skubal off because they offered him even less than that. They took him to arbitration when it was clear to anyone either a brain that offering less than David Price over a decade ago wouldn’t go well.
Is there a need to make any offers before the next CBA is signed?
All, yes.
The article gives you your answer, “Boras clients rarely opt for extensions over eventually testing free agency, and an even smaller number of Boras clients sign extensions when they’re this close to the open market.”
Combine that with a probable lockout.
MLB players rarely opt for extensions in their final season of arbitration. Period. Top players even less. Boras clients opt to sign extensions at almost the same exact rate as all MLB players. When they are top players, even less.
The tired refrain that it’s just Boras clients is so wrong and so annoying. The information is there. Instead of repeating total BS, the writers here need go look it up. They have a database of all players and the agents that represent them they want us to pay to see, but they refuse to use it to actually look up the numbers.
We have no clue what Skubal’s agent told them it would take to get him signed. Unless that comes out there is no reason to believe that it was worth even making an offer. If his agent said Skubal wanted 12/500 or 10/450 that would have immediately put an end to negotiations and the Tigers would not have made any offer.
Skubal and the Skrubals
He has no Skrubals.
Good riddance! A blue collar town like Detroit doesn’t need someome like you.
What? What about being blue collar excludes a Skubal extension?
Yeh better to be known for pizza pizza
Lol sure. He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball. You’ll miss him if he goes, which is not a a sure thing. Scott Boras’ clients frequently wait until free agency for the bidding war.
But, but the blue color workers fell for a snake oil selling billionaire despite strong warning from the union which the blue collors are mostly members.
You talking about the car industry? The union wreaked that
You still believe that? American auto industry fell behind because of poor executive decisions and accountants making decisions instead of engineers.
Good riddance to arguably the best pitcher in MLB? OK. I think you will quickly find out just how much Detroit needs someone like him if he leaves for nothing.
If they make a run for the WS, they’ll have a bunch of extra cash on hand, plus contender vibes and good will and make him a big offer. If they fall away before the deadline, they’ll trade him to the Yanks for Schlittler, Jones, Hess, and Gil to reload and move forward with Framber as the ace.
It would be such a Yankees thing to do to trade for him and then Steinbrenner let’s him go
Imagine Game 1 of an LCS… Skubal pitches 5 scoreless innings, 82 pitches, says i’m all done, cant risk my free agent value pitching another inning. Skubal is great but he’s just another Boras puppet clown until he gets his money
Sure thing, Homer
Tigers!
Come on!
Boras has never even given the Tigers a hint as to what it would take. The Tigers made an offer last year, Boras leaked it to the media and said it was non-competitive, and has never made a demand. Bidding against your own prior offer is ridiculous. It takes two to have a negotiation. Boras is never going to give the Tigers a number, because he doesn’t want to get into a middle ground where Skubal might want to accept. Boras is waiting for the Dodgers and Yankees. It’s easier to get Tarik to wait if there’s no negotiations.
At the same time offering less than 100 million for a triple crown pitcher under 30 years old tells us how much the tigers are willing to invest in the team
Does anyone review these articles before posting them? This article is so poorly written that it is barely intelligible.
Barely intelligible? LOL. I think it’s actually a well-written summary of events.
You should ask for your money back.
Has anyone ever read “barely intelligible” in a sentence before now?
Especially in a critical analysis of an article.
Make him a 4 yr. $200 million, opt out after year 2 and a no trade clause offer between the end of the season and when free agency opens. Dare him to turn it down. He will.
The only reason to make an offer is ti say you made an offer. Boras is just going to reject it then use it as a starting point with other clubs.
That’s fine. The Dodgers will make a long term offer next off season. He’ll be fine, as will the billionaire owners of the Tigers.
He’ll be a Dodger in 2027. Skenes will be a Yankee. Wheels on the bus…
The Yankees don’t have the trade pieces to make that trade for Skenes happen. The Dodgers do.
If memory serves Detroit is or was underwater on non-Skubal starts and wildly successful when he starts.
There is no making that up once he’s in LA, so it’s win now then that’s that.
Will Skubal be a Dodger, a Blue Jay, or a Met in 2027? Or will Steinbrenner decide to play with the big boys again?
i think it will end up being significant how lowball an offer the tigers made for skubal for arbitration..they went with very lowball offer and sort of forced the arbitor’s hand..i think if they had offered anything near mid 20s there wouldve been much better chance a ruling could be in their favor..tigers offer wasn’t really plausible..and so end result is it will raise that precedent for future cases by a long way..im not tigers fan..braves fan..baseball fan
LAD will offer him
6/300 if not more
The Ilitch family has been successful in business. This article confirms why. So long Skubal. Tiger fans will never forget your bailout in game 5 vs Seattle.
Genuinely curious how an expiring contract, high probably of a lockout and potential for a salary cap may affect his earning power after the year