Tarik Skubal is the most valuable pitcher in the American League. The Detroit Tigers should, at all costs, show their appreciation to Skubal and avoid a salary arbitration hearing.
There are some contracts to squabble over, and then there are those you just present pen and paper to the ballplayer to sign.
Whatever the monetary figure Skubal’s representatives have submitted to Detroit’s general manager Jeff Greenberg, this will be money well spent for the 2026 season. The Tigers have Skubal, the 2024 American League Triple Crown winner (for pitchers), under contract for one more season.
Once the afternoon home game with Pittsburgh on Sept. 27 is completed, Skubal could lend his prized left-handed arm to the highest bidder among MLB’s 30 franchises. If Detroit has hopes of retaining their home-grown superstar—who in 2025 threw a career-high 241 strikeouts, giving up a stingy 48 earned runs in 31 games, and only walking 33 batters—they will want to remain on friendly terms with Skubal.
If the Tigers and Skubal don’t reach a deal by a set date for an arbitration hearing, relations between the two sides will strain.
Published reports from ESPN and USA Today on Thursday claim that the Tigers’ ace has filed for a one-season, 2026 contract for $32 million. The Tigers are said to be offering in the neighborhood of $19 million. Being $13 million apart is a huge gap. If these numbers hold steady, and no compromise is made, what Skubal is asking for is the largest ever salary request for a pitcher brought to arbitration.
The Tigers on Thursday announced they had avoided arbitration with seven of their players from the 2025 squad. All deals are for one year.
Riley Greene, at $5 million, is the highest reward among the seven. First baseman Spencer Torkelson, pitcher Casey Mize, and outfielder Kerry Carpenter are among the seven Tigers returning to manager A.J. Hinch’s lineup. But, without Skubal, and there is a very real chance of Detroit moving him in a trade for prospects, given that they only have control of his services for one more season, 2026 could have a disappointing finish for the boys who call Comerica Park home.
There isn’t another starting pitcher available for the Tigers to attempt to replace Skubal in the rotation. None. He is as elite as they come.
Back in 2024, New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto avoided arbitration by accepting a one-season deal for $31 million. This is the highest amount ever for an arbitration-eligible player. As far as pitchers go, David Price agreed to a $19.75 million deal with the Tigers in 2015 to remain in Motown, thus avoiding salary arbitration.
If Skubal and the Tigers do head to an arbitration hearing, each side will present its case, hoping it will prove its worth to the club.
Each January, players eligible for salary arbitration prepare to make their case in hopes of receiving a pay increase. Once a player has three years of MLB service and isn’t signed for the coming season, they may consider arbitration.
Once the player is eligible, he may request arbitration each season until he reaches a sixth season of service. After six years, the player becomes eligible for free agency. If Skubal and Detroit remain at loggerheads and don’t meet somewhere in the middle, perhaps $25 million, then the arbitration panel will select a figure.
The panel would review a lot of data, all submitted by Skubal’s camp and the Tigers. Arbitration hearings are scheduled between late January and early February.
Along with Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes in the National League, Skubal has been as dominant a pitcher in the American League as the league has seen in many years.
In 2024, Skubal won Game 1 for Detroit over the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series. If Detroit has expectations to go deeper into the postseason, win a division championship, and be successful in the league championship to get into the World Series, their chances are diminished without Skubal on the mound for them.
After a career 3.08 ERA, 54 victories in five full seasons with the Tigers, Skubal has earned his ask. He has been described as a generational talent, and Skubal’s statistics back up such a label.
Greenberg undoubtedly wants to maintain harmony between the front office and the clubhouse for a club that has the horses to contend for a World Series championship. Either trading Skubal or, worse, publicly stating negative comments about their ace pitcher during an arbitration hearing would be detrimental to how far the club could go this coming season.
Whatever it takes, the Tigers need Skubal at Tigertown in Lakeland, Florida, at the start of February spring training.
