Tigers Pursuit of More Pitching Likely Dependent on Skubal Arbitration Outcome

The Detroit Tigers do not want to spend more if they're forced to pay their ace what he's worth.

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The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason as one of the main topics in baseball given the contract status of their repeat American League Cy Young ace.

All winter long, folks have openly speculated on whether or not Detroit could do the unthinkable and trade away Tarik Skubal as he enters the final year of team control. Extension talks have gone nowhere to this point and it looks all but certain he will be going elsewhere a year from now.

Things cooled off after the winter meetings, however they heated back up once again last week after an absolutely staggering and historic gap in perceived value has the southpaw set to take the organization to an arbitration hearing which could make baseball history. Skubal filed at $32 million while the Tigers filed at just $19 million, the largest ever gap in the arbitration process.

While this already seems like a disaster, the ripple effects could be even worse. Over the weekend, prominent baseball insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) linked Detroit to remaining free agent starting pitchers Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt. However he qualified that their actual interest could depend on whether or not they win the case against Skubal.

Tigers Will Only Sign More Help if They Don't Have to Pay Skubal

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"The potential for an addition might be less likely if they lose their arbitration case with left-hander Tarik Skubal and end up paying him $32 million instead of $19 million," Rosenthal wrote with regards to Giolito and Bassitt.

Detroit was also surprisingly linked as a fit this past weekend for arguably the top free agent left on the market in Houston Astros ace Framber Valdez. While this may end up being a pipe dream, it certainly loses all chances if the Tigers have to spend an extra $13 million on Skubal

In a cruel twist of perhaps self-fulfilling fate, Rosenthal is saying Detroit they cannot afford to add pieces around their ace unless they can drastically underpay him, which is the reason he is likely going to leave a year from now and should raise the urgency this year.

Tigers Hesitancy to Spend is Holding Them Back and Pushing Skubal Out

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Detroit clearly is determined to build things up slowly and let their own home grown prospects carry the load in terms of how they plan to win, however the Skubal scenario has been particularly eye-opening at their unwillingness to extend themselves.

Granted, free agency value and arbitration value are two very different things and this can explain the Tigers' lowball offer, however there is no reason for them to have offered under $20 million. Now, they have insulted and likely annoyed the face of their franchise, potentially pushing him further to the edge.

All of this drama is almost certainly going to culminate in Skubal playing elsewhere a year from now, but perhaps if things get even uglier it could be sooner than that. It seems either way though, if Detroit is forced to pay Skubal the number he's earned and the Tigers keep him, don't count on other moves being made.