There’s been plenty of discussion the past few seasons about “ruining baseball.” Primarily, it’s centered on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, after winning the 2024 World Series, added to their roster with Blake Snell, Tanner Scott and Roki Sasaki. The unforgivable crime of trying to win sent reverberations around Major League Baseball, as fans, media, and executives apparently prefer owners save their own money and not build the best possible roster.
Well, they’re going to love the Detroit Tigers then.
The Tigers have found themselves the beneficiaries of having one of the best handful of pitchers on the planet in their organization: Tarik Skubal. Skubal exploded as one of baseball’s best in 2024, and was once again dominant in 2025. A 2.21 ERA, with 241 strikeouts, a minuscule 0.89 WHIP and 11.10 strikeouts per nine. He’s likely to win his second consecutive American League Cy Young, and was equally impressive in October.
Over 20.2 innings, he allowed just four runs with nine hits and four walks. Oh, and had 36 strikeouts, including two games with at least 13. Sounds like the type of pitcher you’d like to lock up for the long term, right?
Not in Detroit!
CLEVELAND – Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers reacts after the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on September 23, 2025. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Detroit Tigers Humiliate Themselves With Lowball Offer To Tarik Skubal
Jon Heyman from the New York Post reported this week that the Tigers had engaged Skubal in extension talks, hoping to prevent the superstar starter from reaching free agency.
Their offer? Lower than $80 million for four years. For one of the top 2 to 3 pitchers in baseball, still in his late 20’s.
Insulting doesn’t begin to cover it. Insane doesn’t begin to cover it. What term does start to cover it? Ruining baseball.
That’s not a serious offer, and it shows that the Tigers don’t intend to be a serious organization. The current assumption and reputation in the sport is that the big market, big spending teams are what’s hurting the sport. This is what’s actually hurting the sport.
Skubal is a generational talent, he’s a homegrown player, he’s been worth over six wins above replacement the past two seasons. Notably, the Tigers have made the playoffs each of those two seasons, despite underwhelming offensive performance. He’s one of the hardest things to find and develop in baseball; a legitimate ace.
The cost for those types of players is extremely high, even with the injury risk. Still, let’s compare some pitchers who’ve received contracts in the same general range as Skubal:
- Eduardo Rodriguez, 4-years, $80 million from the Diamondbacks
- Taijuan Walker, 4-years, $72 million from the Phillies
- Jameson Taillon, 4-years, $68 million from the Cubs
- Miles Mikolas, 4-years $68 million from the Cardinals
- Chris Bassitt, 3-years, $63 million (21m AAV) from the Blue Jays
Are any of those pitchers anywhere close to Skubal’s level? Of course not. Gerrit Cole, a close comp for Skubal, got 9-years, $324 million ahead of his age-29 season in 2020. That’s in 2019 dollars, not 2025-2026 after runaway inflation.
Skubal’s reps understandably are looking for close to $400 million. That’s a huge number, but it’s commensurate with his talent and performance thus far. Will he get it? Maybe not, because pitchers, especially ones who throw as hard as Skubal, are an endless injury risk. But Detroit’s not even taking this seriously. And we know they can afford it, because they signed Miguel Cabrera to a 10-year, $292 million extension in 2014. In 2025 dollars, that’s $397 million or…very close to $400 million.
But Tigers ownership has likely realized there’s little reason for them to spend money. Fans will continue going to games and watching them on television. Getting to 83-85 wins is all that’s necessary to make the expanded playoffs. And they’ll be able to run to the media to complain about big markets when Skubal gets what he deserves from the Dodgers or Yankees or Red Sox. It’s never the fault of the team refusing to sign their own stars in hopes of winning a championship, it’s always the fault of the teams trying to win.
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