Tarik Skubal, Tigers Heading to Salary Arbitration in Historic Deadlock
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Another key point in baseball's offseason has come and gone: the pre-arbitration deadline. While most players across both leagues were able to lock in deals with their organizations, including the Detroit Tigers, one key pitcher did not.
The Tigers had 11 players who were eligible for this year's arbitration, and 10 of them signed a deal. But pitcher Tarik Skubal was not. When that happens, the team and the player trade financial figures in anticipation of an arbitration hearing in February.
The two-time Cy Young winner and the Tigers are so far apart financially that it could go down in the history books.
The Chasm Between Tarik Skubal and Tigers
If the panel selects $32M, Tarik Skubal will surpass Juan Soto ($31M) for the largest one-year arb contract, set records as the highest-paid arb-eligible pitcher (David Price, $19.75M) and biggest raise for an arb-eligible pitcher (Jacob deGrom, $9.6M).
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) January 9, 2026
No records if it's $19M. https://t.co/LcuMbNp5ly
Skubal and his representatives filed an arbitration number of $32 million, per the Detroit Free Press, while Tigers leadership filed at 19 million. Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, it's the largest spread between and player and a team in MLB arbitration history. While nothing bars the two sides from reaching a deal, a gap that wide will likely keep a deal from happening.
The record for a pitcher arbitration contract was set in 2015 by former Tigers star David Price, who was locked down for $19.75 million and was traded at midseason to Toronto. The arbitration contract record for any player was Juan Soto at $31 million. So if Skubal wins his hearing, he will break both of those records.
So What Now?
The panel is constructed of three people, and Skubal's agent, as well as the team, will plead their cases on the projected salary that Skubal will be owed for 2026.
Now the most important number moving forward is not 32 nor is it 19, but it is the halfway point, 25.5. Both the Tigers and Skubal will plead their cases at the hearing in front of a panel. If Skubal can argue that he is worth a mere $1 more than $25.5 million then he will be awarded the $32 million. If not, his salary for 2026 will be $19 million.
Quick Refresher of Skubal's Accolades
- American League Cy Young Award Winner: 2024, 2025
- All-MLB First Team: 2024, 2025
- MLBPA Player's Choice Awards AL Outstanding Pitcher: 2024
- Tiger of the Year Award (Detroit BBWAA): 2024, 2025
- All-Star: 2024, 2025
Skubal is the game's top pitcher and it is hard to grasp how the front office and Skubal were so far apart. Keep in mind he barely crossed the threshold of $10M for his 2025 one-year deal. But, then again, Skubal's agent is Scott Boras.
This will be one of the most interesting hearings of all time as the two sides try to plead their cases.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.