Tarik Skubal Sweepstakes Early Twist Months Before Free Agency

The Tarik Skubal sweepstakes already is interesting a few months before free agency.

Sep 19, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Despite the fact that we're a few months away from free agency chatter taking over Major League Baseball, it's already clear who the most fascinating star will be in the open market: Tarik Skubal of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Skubal has two Cy Young Awards under his belt and a 2.85 ERA and a 176-to-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 25 total starts with the Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers. This is a guy who is going to get paid this winter, as long as he stays healthy between now and the end of the postseason. But the big question is by who? It's still early, but there has been speculation about the big-market, high-spending teams out there, like the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Athletic's Jim Bowden raised some eyebrows by writing on X that the Tigers actually could be a team that could venture into the sweepstakes.

"Tigers fans will be really happy having 6 years of Zyhir Hope rather than the last two months of Tarik Skubal with a team that wasnt good enough to win. [By the way] they could also try to resign Skubal in free agency," Bowden wrote on X.

Tigers fans will be really happy having 6 years of Zyhir Hope rather than the last two months of Tarik Skubal with a team that wasnt good enough to win. Btw they could also try to resign Skubal in free agency. https://t.co/KRHMWyibE1

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) September 21, 2026

Could The Tigers Be A Tarik Skubal Wild Card?

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) winds up in the second inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

How wild would that be?

The whole reason why Skubal was talked about as a trade candidate for a year was because of the fact that the expectation out there was that Detroit would not pony up the kind of cash that would get a deal done to keep Skubal in town. This past offseason, the arbitration process was a major talking point around the two sides. Skubal and the Tigers filed at significantly different numbers and the ace ended up winning the case and was awarded a historic $32 million deal. Detroit filed at $19 million and Skubal filed at $32 million.

If after all of this, Skubal went back to Detroit, it would undoubtedly be the craziest outcome of the sweepstakes that has gotten the baseball world's attention for over a year at this point.

Skubal is going to cash in this winter as well, no matter where he goes.

On Sep. 10, ESPN's Jeff Passan shared a column with insight into free agency and noted that if a salary cap isn't added to the league, there's a chance that Skubal could double Stephen Strasburg's $245 million deal that he got from the Washington Nationals. That's wild to think about and arguably would be far too much for a hurler who will turn 30 years old before the 2027 season.

Whether or not he actually doubles Strasburg's deal, the thing that is clear is that he's going to get paid. The sweepstakes will be fascinating. All of the big-market teams out there will surely be mentioned. But if the Tigers actually enter the sweepstakes and offer a mega deal, that would be the thing that would be the most surprising.

Imagine a world in which the Tigers have Skubal again for years to come, plus all of the prospects they got from the Dodgers for him. Detroit would be a problem in the AL Central for years to come in that scenario.