Detroit Tigers Ace, Best Pitcher in Baseball Avoid Arbitration on One-Year Deal
The Detroit Tigers have the best pitcher in Major League Baseball in Tarik Skubal. Most importantly, for a Tigers team that hasn't been willing to spend, Skubal is cheap due to him not hitting free agency until 2027.
However, he's still looking at more money than he's ever earned after inking a new deal on Thursday.
In his second time in the arbitration system, Skubal earned a significant pay raise. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Detroit and Skubal avoided arbitration with a one-year, $10.15 million deal.
"AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a one-year, $10.15 million contract to avoid arbitration, sources tell ESPN. Skubal gets a big raise in his second time through the system. He'll get one more try before reaching free agency after 2026."
If Skubal had a $40-plus million AAV deal, he'd still be the best pitcher in baseball. For $10.15 million, there isn't any debate that he's the most valuable arm in the league.
The 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner, the Tigers need to eventually come to an agreement on a long-term deal to keep their ace in town for much of the next decade.
Skubal, however, is represented by Scott Boras, and if the past tells Detroit anything, Boras' clients never sign early.
The California native will eventually have every big market team in the game interested in him. Unless the Tigers finally decide to spend, others will likely have offers on the table for much more money.
That's concerning, but if Detroit presents him with an offer he can't refuse in the near future, perhaps the two sides could work something out.
Boras hasn't done that in the past, but would Skubal and Boras say no to becoming the highest-paid pitcher in baseball two years before free agency? Maybe not.
