Tarik Skubal Wants Tigers To Poach Red Sox Superstar In Free Agency

Pretty direct approach from the back-to-back Cy Young

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) looks before throwing against Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How close were the Detroit Tigers to beating out the Boston Red Sox for their marquee free-agent signing last year?

Alex Bregman wound up choosing a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox that allowed him to opt out and pursue free agency again. So after a strong year, he's right back where he started, with the Red Sox and Tigers once again expected to compete for his services.

Meanwhile, the Tigers just beat the Red Sox in a different arena, as Tarik Skubal bested second-place finisher Garrett Crochet for American League Cy Young Award honors. Now, Skubal wants Bregman on his squad.

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Tarik Skubal wants Alex Bregman on the Tigers

On Thursday, at the Major League Baseball Awards Show, Skubal made it clear he thought of Bregman and spelled out his hopes that the Tigers would pursue the three-time All-Star.

“He’s a great player,” Skubal said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’d love to play with him, obviously. Hopefully, we can do it again (pursue him) this year. I know he’s a free agent again. I’d love to be teammates with him. He’s a great player and he’d bring a lot to our club, for sure.”

First, it's no wonder that Skubal would love to play with Bregman. He's been unable to solve the third baseman in his career, as Bregman's stat line against him is 6-for-12 with a double, a triple, and a home run, good for a 1.500 OPS.

Second, Skubal could have bigger fish to fry this offseason. With just a year to go until his own free agency and reports claiming that he and the Tigers are apart by hundreds of millions of dollars on a potential extension, he's become one of the top sources of trade rumor fodder.

The Red Sox certainly need to consider the Tigers a threat to sign Bregman, however. They offered him the most money last offseason at six years, $171.5 million, but he opted for the higher average annual value. The only question is whether Detroit's front office still wants him as badly a year later.

But will Skubal and Bregman ultimately become and stay teammates? There are many dominoes to fall before we learn that answer.

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