Braves could land $10M Cy Young winner to create filthy rotation with Chris Sale, Spencer Strider

Hunter Cookston

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Braves could land $10M Cy Young winner to create filthy rotation with Chris Sale, Spencer Strider image

The Detroit Tigers are in an interesting position when it comes to Tarik Skubal. He’s entering the final year of his contract in 2026, and his future remains far from settled. There are many possible outcomes, but at this point, a return to Detroit doesn’t seem like the most likely scenario.

“Two things I believe to be true. 1. Scott Boras and Tarik Skubal want to hit free agency a year from now. No extension this offseason. 2. The Tigers are not going all in to win with Skubal in 2026,” 97.1 The Ticket’s Jim Costa posted.

Skubal and the Tigers have had discussions about his future, but Detroit isn’t budging. The two sides are so far apart that there’s reportedly a massive $250 million gap in extension talks.

“The Tigers and superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal have a lot of work to do if they’re going to bridge quite possibly the biggest gap in MLB negotiating history: an estimated quarter of a billion dollars. Yep, that’s not a misprint. It’s close to $250 million,” New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote.

The Atlanta Braves could be a team willing to go all in for Skubal — and adding him might give them the best rotation in baseball.

“While the details matter here, the simple idea of Atlanta going after Skubal makes loads of common sense. The Braves need more starting pitching and want to compete at a high level in 2026. Skubal is the prohibitive favorite to win his second straight Cy Young this season and will likely remain among the Cy Young favorites for the foreseeable future assuming he stays healthy. Every single team in baseball would love to have a guy like that including the Braves,” HTHB’s Eric Cole wrote.

A rotation featuring Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López, and Skubal would be flat-out dominant. With that group, the Braves could have the firepower to make a serious World Series push. Skubal to Atlanta would make things very interesting, to say the least.

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Hunter Cookston

Hunter Cookston began his career as a sportswriter for the Marion Tribune, where he covered local high school football, basketball and baseball. His passion for sports started at the age of four when he played his first year of tee ball. Growing up in Tennessee, he developed a deep love for the Tennessee Volunteers and Atlanta Braves. Hunter is currently attending Tennessee Wesleyan University, where he is pursuing a BA in Sports Communications/Management.