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?
The Tigers strategy with him has been really dumb. But they will get the boatload at the trade deadline.
Why would they trade Skubal at the deadline if the team is in the race?
“Tigers strategy..Really dumb..boatload at the trade deadline”…I think you contradicted yourself. They know they can’t afford him and embarked on a business strategy that takes that into account.
If they get a franchise altering “boatload” of talent in trade, who are you to say it’s a “dumb” strategy?
The Tigers never learn, that’s why they never win. Or maybe it’s the the Tigers never win & that’s why they never learn. Either way. 🤣
1. Boras always takes his clients to FA
2. Boras is going to steer Skubal away from Detroit because he has his list of people he deals with.
3. They’re better off just keeping him and trying to win this year.
4. Scott Harris doesn’t seem to want to kiss Boras’ ___, Which will probably be necessary to even have a chance.
5. We still don’t know what the Tigers are going to do at the deadline because it isn’t here yet.
6. Sometimes the best play is not to play.
7. The Tigers might still move him. What if they’re 15 games ahead in the division on deadline day and all their other starters are healthy? Hmmmm Now is not the time to worry about it.
@Uncle Prince, Rogers, Magglio, Pudge, etc.. Numerous Botas Corp clients have signed with the Tigers. Also numerous of his clients extend prior to free agency. The players at top of free agent class usually dont and that is no different with any other agent.
Boras is over 70 years old, Scott Haris or any other GM likely would deal with him little of at all. They likely deal with some of the 100 employees of Boras Corp.
So what you’re saying then is that none of the current Illitch family members have dealt with Boras. And that you feel real good about him coming back then? Didn’t think so.
Chris Illitch worked for the Tigers at that time. And Id say it is more likely that he’d have dealt with him then as opposed to now.
With Chris Illitch being the owner this is stuff delegated to those in the front office. As for Boras the founder of Boras Corp now in his 70s, he employs over 100 employees so he is likely delegating here as well. Both owners obviously would be consulted at some point, but they likely emerge after the heavy lifting is done and they then are present for the media.
No I dont think Skubal is coming back. If it is anywhere near the speculated 8 years and $400M Id rather see that $ pread around and hedged against injury. The Tigers are a mid to upper mid market team and Od.like to see them hedge the talent instead of relying so much on one single player at a position players are often injures.
The timing with Skubal was really unprecedented. He came back from injury and wins back to back Cy Youngs and still has a year of team control. He just took off to meteoric heights at the time teams are usually extending players.i don’t blame Skubal for testing free agency nor do I fault the Tigers for having not extended him. As stated above it was an unprecedented situation.
Who will pay a boatload for a few months of service? The Tigers really screwed this up. Should have agreed to his record request at arbitration. Should have offered him a record contract on top of that. If he refuses, then at least you tried.
Your summary is spot-on. Perfect analysis.
To get that boatload, they would have to sign him right now. If they get what they should get for him, they’ll still be in it and win the division. Get two major league starting pitchers and three blue chip position prospects.
Are we really talking about the guy who in the WBC gave up a homerun to Nate Eaton of all people? ;O)
Thinking $400 million for 8 years could probably get it done. In Detroit or maybe somewhere else.
@Giza They offered him the previous arbitration record. It was much if not more about MLB and MLBPA about setting a precedent for future arbitration cases.
As for offering him a deal this offseason, they clearly already missed the boat with him. Even if they plan on signing him it would have been foolish to do so prior to this season if paying full free agency price. They’d be assuming the risk of injury in 2026 with a few hundred million $ at stake that they’d be on the hook for. The risk/reward is now in Skubal’s favor on a longterm deal, the Tigers arent going to add to that.
It’s crazy that we live in a world where a guy who only goes once every five days getting 8/240 would be an insult, but it absolutely would be.
And if you think about it he was the guy on the mound both times we got knocked out of the playoffs. Grand slam in Cleveland and throwing error in Seattle. Both cost us the series.
Skubal has put Tigers in a position to win 5 of 6 Postseason games he has started. He was 8 innings removed when they lost to SEA. He pitched a 3rd game in the CLE series that he did not get enough run support. The lineup cost the Tigers both those series.
Is there a need to make any offers before the next CBA is signed?
All, yes.
If MLB locks out the players after the season ends, the offseason is put on hold, correct? The Tigers won’t lose any time and the new CBA may contain something to help them retain Skubal. So, I’m thinking the Tigers and others may want to wait until a new CBA is signed before entering huge contracts. I’m just speculating.
Depends on when the lockout starts. It can’t happen until after the CBA expires on December 1st and is not likely until after the owners meeting in mid-December and after the Winter Meetings where many big deals are usually made.
There will not be a cap which would be the only thing other than 100% revenue sharing that would help them retain Skubal.
My speculation is that Manfred is talking out his behind about a lockout because the owners lost millions each without losing a game the last time they tried it and the players are ready with a “strike fund” many times larger than the owner’s have set aside and the players are willing to lose a full season rather than give up a cap. The owners stand to lose 100% of the $13+ billion revenue of the sport while still having to pay a large portion of their expenses including debt service. I think it was all posturing on the owner’s side and the players are willing to call their bluff.
@all in New CBA could also make it harder for some teams to sign certain players. It is likely not going to change all that significantly.
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.
great point. not a boras fan but some of these narratives are overblown and tired
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.
@Web’s We actually do, it was said to the media and it was roughly $400M
Meadow Muffins! Why bid against yourself?
Um, because he is not a free agent and only the Tigers can bid. What part of that do you not understand?
The Tigers are not going to offer Skubal anything close to $350-400 million. Why waste everyone’s time and get the fan base’s hopes up? We all know Skubal’s days in Detroit are numbered, we just don’t know if it will be an in-season trade of leaving as a free agent next winter
Because they can say they tried similar to the Nats’ offer to Soto and Jays’ first offer to Vladdy. It justifies trading him at the deadline if things don’t work out for the team come then.
Illitch family have been the biggest slumlords in Michigan for half a century. One of the 5 richest owners in MLB but Skubal is about to be a Dodger or Met, no doubt. It doesn’t matter “what his agent asked for”, they weren’t going to agree to it. A 400 mill deal is like chump change to them. It’s yet another slap in the face to Tigers fans that Skubal is even a topic of discussion.
The penny-pinching started after Mike passed away. Do you not remember the Red Wings of the early 2000s or the huge contract Verlander signed with the Tigers? The Illitch kids are the problem.
The Kids care about profits over winning. It’s not just the Illitch’s, it’s also the Steinbrenner’s, the Pohlad’s, and the Angelos’s before them
What are you babbling about? The Illitch family made their fortune in the pizza business and own two sports franchises in the Detroit area. At $3.8 billion, the Illitch family is the 9th richest team owner.
Baseball teams are businesses. In terms of revenue and franchise value the Tigers are near the bottom at 24th in revenue at $320 million and 22nd in team value. Detroit is the 15th largest media market. Unfortunately for them, part of their media market is in Canada and the Blue Jays dominate that part of the market.
None of that precludes them at least making an offer close to market value. If he accepted, which is highly unlikely, they could make a 10/400 deal work. If not, its a PR hit with fans.
Frank was far too smart and honest to ever be President.
Why spend the entirety of your budget hoping for one guy to stick around, even if it’s Tarik F’n Skubal? They’ll almost for sure have other holes to fill next winter, and it might make way more sense for them to spread the money around and build the whole roster up.
The only team able to hand out a 10/500M contract, or whatever the hell Boras is demanding for Skubal these days, and still go and make more upgrades, is the Dodgers. They have no budget constraints, and even if they did they’re so deep that they could afford to trade off a couple players and still project for 95 wins and a world series appearance.
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.
How many years do you want to sign him for? To what age do you want to be paying him $35-40MM per year? Maybe he will last 5 years until he’s 35, like Scherzer, but that’s the exception, not the rule. More often it end up like Cole, injury ridden. I wouldn’t offer more than 6 years, and I’m sure he wouldn’t accept that, no matter the amount.
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.
It fell behind because the China govt backs their electric car industry, and we quit backing ours. So our companies quit trying.
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.
They get a pick, and have $32MM to spend.
Blue collar town isn’t paying Skubal. Illitch family is a major reason why Detroit was poor for 50 years. Sports aren’t blue-collar just because poor people spend absurd money to worship athletes.
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
@sad
Lol. Why would the Yankees trade their top young MLB pitcher and top hitting and pitching prospects, and pay additional luxury tax for less than a half season of Skubal?
C’mon, dude. Not even the Dodgers or Mets would make that deal.
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
In your imagination he is a puppet clown?
Imagine having so much hate in your head that you choose to imagine that instead of something positive about the best pitcher in MLB. How sad your life must be.
Sure thing, Homer
If they trade Skubal at the deadline, they won’t get anything near that. Peralta, at $8MM, with a full year of control, got back Sproat, and a defensively challenged top prospect. For a third of a season, at more than Peralta’s full contract, do you really think any team is going to offer that quantity of MLB quality players?
Huh? Jett Williams is defensively challenged?
blogs.fangraphs.com/brewing-with-gas-evaluating-je…
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
Tigers payroll has more than doubled in 2 years. They are willing to pay (Valdez) if someone will ehgage with them. Boras refuses to engage.
See my comment below. Skubal’s own words. “It’s their decision.” Meaning it was the Tiger’s decision not to engage in negotiations.
Skubal could engage, if he’s really interested in staying. There is no rule that says the team has to make the first move.
It’s a both sides decision. Tigers need to make a fair offer, Skubal and Boras need to counter.
At the time of the offer, he hadn’t won a Cy Young and was coming off injury.
Here is a basic fact of the agent/player relationship. Agents advise. Clients make the decisions. Boras can do nothing without his clients ok. You assume that Boras leaked the Tiger’s offer after the 2024 season when it’s just as likely that the Tigers did to put pressure on Skubal to sign.
That offer was far below market value at a reported 4/80 to 4/100. I remember Tigers’ fans on here saying it was a slap in the face to Skubal at the time. The sports page headline in the Free Press was “… an insulting contract offer for Tarik Skubal.” At the time Heyman commented that the two sides were $250 million apart with Skubal asking for $330-350 million over 11-12 years. What a bargain that would have been.
Maybe you should read Skubal’s own words. “It’s their decision.” Meaning the Tiger’s decision.
Skubal would have to instruct Boras to give a counteroffer. Remember, all agents work for the players, their clients.
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.
What else would you expect from someone calling himself stuart schlotterbeck?
@ Stuart
Did we read the same article?
Other than missing the word “be” in the last paragraph, this article is flawlessly written, and more importantly, it is insightful and informative.
Now I wonder if you’re just a troll, and you won by getting a rise out of me!
I hope you have the guts to reply authentically.
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.
After seeing Tucker get 60m and Bichette get 43m on 3-4 years deals gotta think the best pitcher today could get much more than 50m on a relatively short deal.
Mets ready to make a new AAV record on a pitcher and one that isn’t 37 or 40?
Tucker and Bichette can play 150-ish games/yr. They influence a lot more games. Skubal, 30-35 tops.
4/200 with opt out after year one and two would get it done.
4/$260M *might* get his attention.
It would be the opt outs that would get his attention.
He might get 50m/yr on an 8 year deal. On a 3 or 4 year deal it would be at a higher AAV, regardless of when the inevitable opt outs are located
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.
Boras can’t reject it. All he can do is pass it along to his client. The Tigers could offer a 5/5 offer or 5/500 and Boras can only pass that offer along to his client. Verbal or formal in writing, that is his legal obligation.
I get that but he’ll advise Skubal to reject it.
Depends on what the offer is. The Tigers know his market value. The arbitrator showed what the absolute minimum AAV would be and FA typically get more than that absolute minimum. If they made an offer close to his market value and long term, they at a minimum get the PR bump of their fan’s goodwill and they just might keep Skubal who has consistently said over the past 3 seasons how much he enjoys playing in Detroit.
I see you don’t understand how arbitration works. The Tigers offered $19MM. Skubal asked for $32MM. The arbitrator doesn’t pick “the absolute minimum.” They pick the one that is closest to what they feel is the value. With middle ground being 25.5MM, all we know is they felt it was above that. The arbitrator may have felt $26MM was right, or $60MM. No one will ever know.
I obviously do know how arbitration works. I was one of the few on here that said that Skubal would absolutely win his arbitration case.
Arbitration establishes which of the two is closer to the actual value of the player according to the criteria the arbitrator is allowed to consider. $32 million was closer. The arbitrator did not even consider $25.5 million or any other number.
They ruled at $32 million and that is the absolute minimum that an offer to Skubal should be going forward. Historically FA have received 20% more in FA than they did in their final season of arbitration eligibility. Skubal will likely get far more than $32 million, but that is the absolute minimum for an offer that could be considered market value.
Arbitration numbers are not market value. Should Skubal have a bad year, or get injured, your “absolute minimum” could change drastically.
You don’t hire Boras if you’re not going to follow his advice.
And that is why every single year players decide to do something other than what Boras would advise.
Yeah. Those that have other agents than Boras.
Ding Ding Ding….we have a winner.
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?
An Oriole. Elias will finally get an ace pitcher and it will only cost him $600 million to do it
Was listening to WEEI this morning and they were saying the Red Sox should make a run at him in trade. Sending Duran as the centerpiece.
Not happening. And even if the Sox acquired him Henry isn’t paying almost $400 million to keep him
Mets. They need an ace.
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
I’m very happy with how Skubal’s arbitration hearing went.
LAD will offer him
6/300 if not more
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
If anything, it might push a team to sign Skubal before the lockout.
Crochet & Skubal will be a potent one-two in Boston.
Thats ok Tiggers. He prolly was chomping at the bit to play in a more glamorous locale. Guess he outgrew the Brown Jug and Big Boy. Least you got Michigan football
Would of offered him 8 years 300 last year w an opt out after 3 n back loaded a tad to try to get him tl stay.
LEAST Detroit fans can say our owner tried n turn on Skubal n Boras for rejecting a fair offer.
Now that would look like a steal
Not surprising at all. Skubal and Bora$$ are intent to test the FA market. EVERYONE knows that. They want maximum dollars. Right now the Tigers are bidding against themselves and it would take a massive offer to sign him to an extension. Better to wait and see where his market goes.
FWIW, I think Skubal does like it in Detroit but he isn’t going to give the Tigers a home town discount either.
After the Tigers “insulting offer” after 2024 and losing in arbitration after giving an insulting arbitration number, this is all on the Tigers.
Boras’ arbitration eligible clients test FA at the same rate as all other agent’s clients do, so that excuse won’t fly.
Skubal is not a free agent. Only the Tigers can bid. If they make a market value offer and Skubal says no, then they win the PR battle. As of now, they lose all around. They lose with Skubal and they lose with their fans.
Well said
Blue collar fans in Detroit will look at what he signs for, and agree they wouldn’t have paid that either.
anyone who has ever been married knows….”that’s fine” means it’s over.
See ya in LA or NY next year
Toronto is south of Detroit I think and they have deep pockets and a huge amount of money coming off the books.
Toronto is NE of Detroit, about a six to eight hour drive.
You’re thinking of Windsor, Canada being south of Detroit.
He more gone then an empty second base the moment Ricky Henderson is on first.
I don’t think Detroit is agonizing over his future signing, who would ? Boras guys go the distance in signing a long term deal. Everyone knows it, fans, players, owners, everyone knows it. No one in this world blames anyone for trying to maximize their earnings. Nor does anyone have the right to demand someone pay for anything either.
The big test this season is on the other aspects of the team. Hitting, fielding are going to be the ones to watch this year. Last year was the first year in a long time where we had so many with double digit home runs in the line up. The fielding was top notch as well. The pitching this year has everyone excited too. It’s going to be a great season in Detroit. GO TIGERS !
Gonna be fun watching this team especially when McG and the two Maxes get called up. Tigers can be competitive for a long time if they handle the roster. Skubal is ace but I’d rather not tie up 40-50M long term, annually on an arm.
Mr. Polishuk: Skubal didn’t “allude”, he “said”, plain and simple. Make your high school English teacher proud and find out what “allude” means.
Why make him an offer when Boras will just use it as a starting point and take it to another team. Let another team open the bidding. This is common sense negotiation when dealing with Boras.
Makes more sense for the Tigers to trade him in early June and get a nice haul.
Come to Seattle, Skubal!
Why? He’s a Boras client which usually means you’re dead set on going to free agency next winter where they are convinced they can get more money maybe even from the Tigers or another team, then what anything the tigers would offer them now.
Absolutely the right choice with Boras. Don’t negotiate with terrorists.
Still paying Miggy are they?
Checklist: make lunch for the kids, check pilot light on stove, clean cat litter box. Anything else? Good. Oh wait. Tender offer to the freakin’ best pitcher in baseball!
Dodgers, how predictable.
Why oh why is a mess made entirely by the Tigers the reason to cast shade on the Dodgers? Ohtani (first time as a FA), Soto, etc. Were all heavily recruited by the Dodgers and chose to go elsewhere. If your amazing pitcher winds up a Dodger it will be the way Mookie did (Boston fouled their own well and traded him a few months before FA) or Freddie did (Atlanta fouled their own well and backstabbed him by signing Olsen). Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Sasaki all made rational business and personal decisions. As did every star playing for every other team in baseball. In every instance the player had other, similar, offers. They all choose to go where they choose to go. Every year 14 AL teams don’t make it to the World Series. When, decade after decade, the Tigers don’t make it it won’t be because a player they mismanaged accepted a market value offer the following year.
If I’m a G M, I never go more than 3 years with any pitcher. If that sounds extreme, it isn’t – there are several teams that follow that rule. For every free agent pitcher signing a long-term deal that went well, there are 2 or 3 that were mediocre or worse. Detroit, let him walk. You can use that cash for other assets that may very well offset his loss.
I call this the “Tua Tonguealova syndrome” the Tigs wants to see if he’s worth the money. In other words to make sure it’s not a fluke like Tua.
A fluke? That’s extreme seeing as he’s got back to back Cy Young’s. I’m not saying give him 400 million like it’s water but they didn’t even try lol
Why make an offer if he is not listening?
How many years is he getting in FA?
o/u 9 years?
I believe the short term could go $200MM / 3 years, but he is going for the long term.
Under 9 years. My prediction is Dodgers for 7 years, $330mil.
Wise choice lol – I’ve said on posts before regarding Skubal. Valdez was signed to be his replacement, simple as that. They will absolutely not be giving out a deal he wants. They should have traded him, they would have gotten someone’s top 5 prospects, easily.
Just trade him to the Dodgers already.
The Tigers are going for a WS run this season. If they’re hopelessly out of it at the end of July, then they MIGHT think about trading him. Boras is taking him to FA no matter what. I don’t understand why that’s so hard to figure out.
In “and, arguably all players,” there shouldn’t be a comma after “and.”
It has always been a foregone conclusion that Tarel Skubal will not resign with Detroit. If I were the Detroit front office, I would waste my money on paying an attorney to draw up a contract. It wouldn’t surprise me if Skubal’s Carter mirrors Stephen Strasburg after free agency.
The only way to get a boatload of talent for Skubal, at this juncture, would be to trade Skubal prior to the season starting.
Presently, the Tigers/Scott Harris don’t seem to be on that track.
This looks like Max Scherzer 2.0.
Mike Illich made his last and final offer to Scherzer. Scherzer & Boras from day 1 were committed to go to the free agent auction.
Scherzer, as expected,pitched his last year in Detroit and walked away from the Tigers as a free agent.
The Tigers did not make the World Series that year and received a draft pick for Scherzer.
Maybe,the Tigers and Chris Illitch learn from their mistakes with Scherzer by getting a boatload of talent for Skubal that makes them competitive both short and long term?!
Only time will tell.