Tigers Arbitration Strategy With Skubal Hints at Long-Term Trouble
In this story:
The Detroit Tigers went into the offseason with many wondering if they could look to trade their superstar ace, and while that has not happened, the winter has not been without drama surrounding Tarik Skubal.
After making it through the winter meetings not dealing him away, it seemed Detroit was bound to hold onto Skubal for 2026 and go from there. As things quieted down, it looked like the saga was over, however this was until the arbitration deadline.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
The two sides filed at a historic $13 million gap which has them set for a fascinating hearing where Skubal's camp will try to argue that he is worth the largest deal in arbitration history. New information now however is coming to light that shows the dispute may even be worse than initially thought.
According to a story from Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, the team's filing for their ace's contract was actually lower than they were willing to offer him in negotiations prior to the deadline.
Tigers May Have Lowballed Tarik Skubal with Final Filing
"The Tigers ultimately filed at $19 million and Skubal filed at $32 million before the deadline on Thursday, Jan. 8, to exchange salary figures for an arbitration hearing," Petzold wrote. "Here's the catch: The Tigers previously offered Skubal $19.8 million for the 2026 season in negotiations leading up to the deadline, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation who could not speak publicly. The two sides were never close to avoiding arbitration."
It sounds like arbitration was a certain reality as obviously the two sides were not going to agree on a number in the middle, however it does feel notable that Detroit went even lower than their offer prior to the deadline.
The extra near million dollars does not make a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme, however the Tigers clearly both feel strongly about their case and are not afraid to continue to poke the bear with regards to keeping Skubal happy.
Detroit seems insistent on disrespecting and flat out annoying their repeat Cy Young winning ace, which is a questionable strategy for a team that claims they want to keep him. Of course as fans are starting to see, that may not even be the case.
Tigers Clearly Are Not Serious About Signing Skubal to Extension
If Detroit wanted to keep Skubal beyond 2026 or were at all serious about it, squabbling over a mere $800k would not make much sense for a team who wants this player to be the face of their franchise for years to come.
Of course, given the way they have handled arbitration and this offseason overall, it does not seem like they are ever going to present him with a serious offer even when he does hit free agency. Skubal says he wants to be in the Motor City, but ultimately his hands will be tied if the Tigers don't get serious in terms of an offer.
No matter what happens with Skubal's arbitration case, it seems like the writing is on the wall that he will be on a different team by the time 2027 rolls around.
Recommended Articles
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.