Mets Get Bad News in Tarik Skubal Trade Pursuit

One of the biggest stories heading into this MLB offseason was what the Detroit Tigers would do with star pitcher Tarik Skubal.

Skubal is coming off a 2025 campaign where he posted a 13-6 record with a 2.21 ERA and a staggering 241 strikeouts in 195.1 innings pitched during the regular season. He then tallied a 1.74 ERA in three postseason starts, adding 36 strikeouts in 20.2 innings thrown. This was enough to earn him his second consecutive AL Cy Young Award and cement him as baseball's best pitcher.

Skubal will become an unrestricted free agent next season if he doesn't re-sign with Detroit by then. And given how far apart the two sides are when it comes to negotiating a contract, most believe it's highly unlikely Skubal (who won his arbitration case with Detroit on February 5, and thus will be awarded a $32 million salary in 2026) will re-sign with the Tigers.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal high-fives teammates in the dugout. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If the Tigers knew they would not be able to sign Skubal long-term, there's a strong case to be made that they should trade him now and get a huge haul in return rather than let him walk in free agency and have nothing.

This is why teams like the New York Mets have been linked to a potential trade with Skubal this winter.

Tarik Skubal Update Doesn't Bode Well for Mets

On February 4, news broke that southpaw pitcher Framber Valdez signed a three-year, $115 million contract with the Tigers in free agency. This deal made some in the industry assume that Valdez was a potential replacement for Skubal, and that this signing meant Detroit might be more keen to trade Skubal now.

However, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal shut this idea down in a February 5 article by saying that this Valdez deal proves the Tigers' plan to win in 2026, which means also keeping Skubal around.

With the signing of Framber Valdez, Tigers’ goal is to win, not trade Tarik Skubal. https://t.co/wuRb77bjdB
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 5, 2026

Therefore, it seems that if the Mets still want Skubal, they'll have to wait until either the middle of the season (if Detroit falls out of playoff contention) or try to sign him in free agency next winter rather than being able to acquire him before 2026 Opening Day.

The good news is that the Mets already traded for an ace in Freddy Peralta, and therefore don't need Skubal. Still, one can expect Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to make a play on the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner next offseason.

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Tarik Skubal Update Doesn't Bode Well for Mets

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