Bill Madden: Making sense of the noise surrounding Tigers ace Tarik Skubal

Bill Madden, New York Daily News on Oct 18, 2025

Published in Baseball

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They are still recovering in Detroit after the Tigers’ crushing Division Series loss to the Seattle Mariners when it was reported the other day they will very likely be losing their best player, Tarik Skubal.

The disheartening news, which came via a report from Skubal’s agent Scott Boras’ principal media operative, was that there is a gap of nearly $250 million between the Tigers and their star pitcher who will become a free agent at 30 after next season. No one was quite sure where that figure came from since it’s not clear if the Tigers have even begun any negotiations with Boras, but the Detroit media speculated it stemmed from what they called the “non-competitive” four year extensive offer the Tigers made to Skubal after the 2024 season and the anticipated $400 million deal Boras is said to be seeking now.

In any case, no one believes Tigers owner Chris Ilitch has the stomach to compete with the large market behemoths and dole out a record 8-9 year, $40 million per deal for a pitcher, such as the Yankees gave Boras client Gerrit Cole in 2019. Which leaves the Tigers between a rock and a hard place with Skubal, who is about to win his second straight Cy Young after leading the American League in ERA (2.21) and finishing second in strikeouts. Do they hold onto him one more year, knowing that, without him, their prospects of getting to the World Series in 2026 — or even making the postseason at all — are considerably diminished?

Or do they trade him now in hopes of getting maximum value of 3-4 prospects for him as opposed to only draft pick compensation if he leaves as a free agent? To that I would submit — assuming Boras would not do a new contract for Skubal before he hits the free market — there are only a few teams that would trade for him as a one-year rental with the confidence they could sign him.

The Mets are one of those teams — actually maybe the only one with the Dodgers and Yankees seemingly at full quota with their starting pitching — and they certainly have the necessary prospect quarry even if Nolan McLean is deemed untouchable. Plus, they couldn’t have a bigger need than a top quality frontline starting pitcher. The question for them is just how high is Steve Cohen willing to let his payroll go? With Juan Soto at $51 million and Francisco Lindor at $34 million, is he really prepared to add another player at $35-$40 million?

I would also add this for Cohen’s consumption: As great a pitcher as Skubal has been, in Game 5 of the ALDS — the biggest game of his life and the biggest game of the Tigers season — when he came off the mound after six innings and 99 pitches, he said he was done. Where have you gone Bob Gibson — three World Series, eight complete games?

If I had to guess, I’d say the Tigers ignore Boras’ proxy-based contract drum beating, hold onto Skubal and ride him as far as they can next year.

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