The Detroit Tigers had a strange 2025 season. After a start that had Detroit as the best team in baseball, a second-half collapse nearly had the Tigers missing the playoffs.
But, they held on and made the playoffs despite losing the AL Central to the Cleveland Guardians. After being eliminated by the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, the focus shifted to the offseason, and specifically, the future of Tarik Skubal in Detroit.
While Detroit would want to keep him, reports have indicated the two sides are far apart in contract negotiations. A new report from Jon Heyman of The New York Post revealed that the previously insulting contract, of roughly $100 million after his 2024 Cy Young season, is even worse than previously reported.
The Tigers’ stunning contract offer to Tarik Skubal after his 2024 Cy Young season
“It turns out the Tigers’ offer a year ago to Skubal was below $80 million for four years,” Heyman reports.
A $100 million offer for Skubal after 2024 was already a lowball offer, but Heyman is now reporting that the contract the lefty ace received from Detroit’s front office was a four-year deal worth less than $80 million.
That’s a stunningly low offer, one that’s hard to believe. If it came before his 2024 Cy Young season, it’d be a lot more reasonable an offer, though one that Skubal likely would decline.
But, if it actually came after the Tigers saw Skubal have one of the best seasons by a pitcher in recent MLB history, it’s a stunning offer for Scott Harris and the Tigers front office to make.
If it came before the 2024 season, Skubal was coming off a 2.80 ERA season across 15 starts, and would have three more years of control left. A four-year, $80 million offer would be a good deal for the Tigers, and it’d only eat into one year of Skubal’s free agency.
But, if it were actually made after 2024, when Skubal had an AL-leading 2.39 ERA, and an MLB-best 228 strikeouts, 18 wins, and 6.4 bWAR, then it’d be a massive underpay.
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Following Skubal’s 2025 season, in which he had a 2.21 ERA, 6.6 bWAR, 241 strikeouts, and a 13-6 record, his contract demands have only increased.
Skubal could be looking for a deal north of $400 million, and while Detroit likely won’t offer him an $80 million offer now, the massive chasm in contract talks isn’t a good sign that an extension will get done.
With this big gap in contract talks, the trade speculation surrounding Skubal isn’t as far-fetched as it might’ve been a year ago.
The 2026 season is the last that Skubal is under control in Detroit, and if the Tigers decide an extension isn’t possible, trading Skubal for a huge return would be a better use of resources than letting him walk for nothing.
The offseason for Skubal and Detroit will be one to closely monitor. While things could quickly change if the Tigers are willing to bump up their offer, a lot of the signs point to the two sides not agreeing to a deal this offseason.
