Despite a brief setback on Monday, when he threw his only really subpar game of the season, the Detroit Tigers’ southpaw ace Tarik Skubal appears well on his way to his second consecutive American League Cy Young Award.
Leading the AL in ERA (2.28), strikeouts (212), pitcher’s WAR (5.7), WHIP (0.873) and other categories, the 28-year old who was, incredibly, a Detroit ninth-round draft pick in 2018, will almost certainly have two Cy Youngs, and maybe even a third, on his resumé when he hits free agency after the 2026 season.
Skubal to Seek Record Contract For Pitcher
When that happens, Skubal himself has already said he could seek a contract in the neighborhood of $425 million over 10 seasons. That would easily set a record for a pitcher’s contract. The current highest-paid hurler in Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers at $325 million over 12 years.
The highest-paid southpaw is the New York Yankees’ Max Fried, with an eight-year deal worth $218 million.
With a mid-market payroll of $154 million this year, 17th in MLB according to Fangraphs â well down from the franchise high of $216 million nine years ago â the Tigers appear unlikely to meet Skubal’s contract requirements.
Wheeler Injury Means Phillies Will Need an Ace
So who will? In light of a catastrophic injury to their own ace, Zack Wheeler, that has ended his season and puts the 35-year-old righty’s 2026 in some doubt, the Philadelphia Phillies will almost certainly have their sites set on targeting Skubal in free agency.
That, anyway, was the prediction published Tuesday by Tigers analyst Jordan Campbell of Motor City Bengals, who believes that in addition to the Wheeler injury which requires the surgical removal of a rib , there is one significant factor pointing toward a Skubal-Phillies link.
That connection is, of course, Philadelphia’s current president of baseball operations, 69-year-old Dave Dombrowski â who was also the Tigers general manager from 2002 to 2014.
Dombrowski’s Long History of Aggressive Moves
Dombrowski has a long and well-earned reputation as one of the most aggressive team-builders in the game with a “win now” philosophy, frequently using the tool of the blockbuster trade to get it done.
In a career of nearly four decades dating back two his 1988 promotion to GM Of the Montreal Expos, Dombrowski has accumulated a lengthy record of high-impact deals, particularly involving pitchers.
As GM of the Tigers, Dombrowski engineered trades that brought Max Scherzer and David Price to Detroit. When he moved on to the Boston Red Sox, he quickly took a team that had finished in the AL East basement two straight years and turned it into the division champion three years straight â including a 108-win, World Series championship year in 2018 â through such stunning deals as the trade that sent two of Boston’s top prospects to the Chicago White Sox for lefty ace Chris Sale.
Dombrowski ‘Lurking’ Over Skubal Free Agency
Especially if Wheeler is absent or unable to return to his 2025 form prior to his venous thoracic outlet syndrome injury, figuring out a way to bring Skubal to Philadelphia falls in line with everything Dombrowski has accomplished in his career.
“Between Wheeler’s recovery and the fact that Ranger Suarez is a free agent this offseason, the Phillies will soon have a massive void at the top of their rotation. In mapping out teams that could be a threat to the Tigers for Skubal, Philadelphia suddenly seems to be near the top of the list,” wrote Campbell.
“As the Tigers look to cement their arrival with a deep postseason run in October, being willing to break the bank after the 2026 season for Skubal will be the next step in keeping their contention window open, but it was never going to be easy,” the Motor City Bengals scribe continued. “And with Dave Dombrowski lurking after this recent development, it doesn’t exactly have Tigers fans feeling great.”
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