Detroit Tigers ace and last season's American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is in for a massive payday once he agrees to his looming next contract. He is under team control with the Tigers through the end of the '26 season, unless both parties agree to a long-term extension before then.
He's the dominant arm who helped power Detroit's magical run to the postseason last year as well as the Tigers' league-leading 49ā30 record in 2025. There's no question whether Skubal will command a gigantic number in his next contractāpotentially the richest deal for a pitcher ever (outside of Shohei Ohtani).
The question is whether that deal will come from Detroit or if Skubal will head elsewhere once he's eligible to become a free agent after the '26 season. The Tigers reportedly already put a "non-competitive" offer in front of Skubal and his camp late last year. Since then, any murmurs of extension talks have been silent, but he opened up about the looming decision Sunday.
āI just donāt think it does any good to come out and say anything about whatās going on,ā Skubal said Sunday via Chris McCosky of . āIf something changes, I might comment on it. But it doesnāt do any good so Iām going to keep it to myself, to my agent and to the front office.ā
We likely won't know what the future holds until it's certain. In the meantime, though, he's focused on the Tigers and continuing their incredible start to the '25 season, which currently has them with an 8.5 game lead in the AL Central. But the business of baseball is unavoidable. He acknowledged that hard truth, but acknowledged he's happy with his current situation.
"It doesn't mean I don't want to be here or that I'm against any extension," he continued via . "It doesn't mean any of that. I just don't want to talk about it. I'm very happy playing here. I like our coaching staff, I like our team. But there is a business side to the game that is much different than the playing side."
Skubal's next deal is on the horizon, which is for him and his agent, Scott Boras, to work out. We'll have to wait and see if he re-ups with the Tigers or heads elsewhere once he can become a free agent.
He's 8ā2 this season in 15 starts with a 2.06 ERA and 117 strikeoutsāboth the fourth-best marks in the MLB.
