The Detroit Tigers have established themselves as one of baseball’s top teams, entering Monday with a 43-24 record and holding a seven-game advantage over the Minnesota Twins atop the American League Central. A major factor in their continued success following last season’s playoff run has been the emergence of Tarik Skubal as a true ace.
Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, is making a strong case for a repeat with a 6-2 record and a 2.16 ERA over 83.1 innings this season. However, his contract situation is starting to loom large, as he’s set to hit free agency after the 2026 season. Securing the star left-hander with an extension is a top priority for Detroit, a point general manager Jeff Greenberg emphasized during a recent interview on MLB Network Radio.
“Obviously, he’s an elite talent with elite competitiveness,” Greenberg said. “He’s always working to improve. As far as an extension, \[Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris] and I have been discussing that since we arrived. One of our core goals is to acquire, develop, and retain as much elite talent as possible. We’ll keep those talks private moving forward.”
Extending Tarik Skubal Should Be Tigers Top Priority Going Forward
While Greenberg didn’t share specific details about contract talks with Tarik Skubal, he made it clear that the Tigers hope to keep him in Detroit long-term—a smart move considering how dominant Skubal has been since returning from flexor tendon surgery in 2023.
The 28-year-old has quietly become one of the game’s elite starters, leading all qualified pitchers over the past three seasons in FIP (2.23) and WHIP (0.891), ranking second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.17), and sitting third in ERA (2.43) among starters with at least 20 starts. He’s well on track for another All-Star nod this summer.
Although the Tigers haven’t handed out many massive contracts in recent years, they’ve shown a willingness to spend—adding players like Javier Báez and Jack Flaherty and emerging as serious contenders in the Alex Bregman sweepstakes.
However, extending Skubal won’t come cheap. The recent pitching market has been reset by deals like Max Fried’s eight-year, \$218 million contract and Corbin Burnes’ six-year, \$210 million agreement. Fried is currently in a Cy Young race with Skubal while posting an 8-1 record and 1.78 ERA for the Yankees. On the flip side, Burnes’ season-ending elbow injury with Arizona highlights the risk tied to investing heavily in arms.
Other big-name pitchers—like Gerrit Cole, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—have also battled injuries, raising concerns about the long-term value of expensive pitching contracts. Given Skubal’s own injury history, the Tigers will need to weigh those risks carefully.
While any offer likely starts near Fried’s deal, Detroit must decide whether Skubal’s elite production outweighs the inherent gamble of paying a pitcher with past arm troubles. So far, he’s making a convincing case.
