Calls Continue to Grow for Tigers to Secure Tarik Skubal Long Term
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After coming up one game shy of the American League Championship Series, this is seen as a big offseason for the Detroit Tigers. After losing the deciding Game 5 of the American League Division Series game to the Seattle Mariners in 15 innings, all eyes turned to an important offseason.
Detroit is seen as a team that is a contender for 2025 and rightfully so with left-hander Tarik Skubal at the top of the rotation. However, he's entering the final season of his current contract, and as far as an extension goes, the sides are reportedly not close.
After the playoffs, Jon Heyman of the New York Post (subscription required) reported in mid-October that the sides were as far as $250 million apart in terms of money.
There have been a ton of trade rumors surrounding Skubal, but nothing has materialized. It is difficult seeing Scott Harris and the front office dealing away the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Mike Axisa of CBS Sports gives Tigers fans the perfect holiday gift: a Tarik Skubal extension.
MLB Writer Hands Out Tigers Fans the Perfect Holiday Gift
This would indeed be the perfect holiday gift for Tigers fans, locking up Skubal long-term. They are the favorites going into 2026 in the American League Central Division, and they are set up long-term to be a contender, which makes giving Skubal an extension keep Detroit's championship window open for years to come the obvious decision.
"Perhaps the most obvious baseball gift of the holiday season. Skubal, the reigning two-time AL Cy Young winner, is a year away from free agency, and while Scott Boras clients usually don't sign extensions, why not put one on the list?" wrote Axisa.
Two-time Cy Young Award winners don't come around very often, and young ones at that. At 29 years old, Skubal is in the prime of his career. Some big-name pitchers have gotten paid on short-term deals, and it only makes sense for Skubal to be the first to get paid on a long-term deal.
"Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Zack Wheeler have already crossed the $40-million-per-year line as starting pitchers, albeit on short-term deals. Make Skubal the first $40 million a year pitcher on a long-term contract (nine years?) and call it a holiday season,'' Axisa wrote.
Teams are reluctant to give players that kind of money in a long-term deal. However, Skubal is one of the top pitchers in the game and is worth giving the money to. Signing him long-term would be a big holiday gift for Tigers fans.
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Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.