Tigers Could Wind Up Benefiting Long Term from Tarik Skubal Surgery News
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The Detroit Tigers had their worst nightmare come true on Monday with the news that Tarik Skubal is going to need surgery for loose bodies in his elbow and will be out for an undisclosed period.
Losing Skubal for any amount of time -- let alone the multiple months he is facing in a best-case outcome here -- was always the top way fans speculated the season could go off the rails. Now, the next month or so is going to tell a whole lot as to just how deep of trouble this team is in.
Even if the season winds up being a completely lost one in Detroit's final year of team control with the repeat American League Cy Young winner though, there is one possible hidden silver lining for the Tigers here.
Should Skubal prove to miss the rest of the season and nobody has evidence as to how he will recover, it could make it much more realistic for Detroit to be able to keep him in free agency on a mutually beneficial deal for both the team and the ace.
Tigers May Now Have Realistic Shot at Keeping Skubal in Free Agency
Should Skubal prove to come back on the optimistic timeline A.J. Hinch gave and get right back to dominating over the final stretch of the season, this likely becomes a moot point.
It's a double-edged sword here because obviously Detroit wants the best pitcher on the planet in the fold to try to pursue a championship, but if he does not come back, the record-breaking contract that has been looming for him in free agency may not be out there anymore.
As amazing as Skubal is, he has had really just three full healthy seasons in his career, and pitchers are getting injured at a higher rate than ever. Obviously he would become un-tradeable at that point and would be on the team the rest of the year regardless of if he pitches or not.
Skubal would love to come back to the Motor City, and while he would obviously miss out on a ton of cash, perhaps this could work out for both sides.
What Tigers Could Realistically Offer Skubal to Match Other Teams
While Skubal and the organization did not discuss numbers this past offseason aside from arbitration, they did negotiate an extension prior to the 2025 season coming off his first Cy Young season.
That offer never reached nine figures from Detroit's end, although it does seem no matter what the team threw out there, Skubal and Scott Boras were always going to be determined to hit free agency.
Now, things have changed.
A team like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees could still roll the dice and make a huge offer, but more than likely, Skubal's market has taken a huge hit here. If the Tigers could get the southpaw to consider a shorter term deal for half a decade or even just one year to hit free agency again a year later, him being in a Detroit uniform in 2027 just got a whole lot more realistic.
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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.