The Detroit Tigers keep saying they don’t expect to trade him, but the temperature around the league suggests otherwise about Tarik Skubal. Detroit may not be shopping its Cy Young winner, but one former MLB GM says the word among executives is that they are listening.
And listening is usually the first step to movement when an ace reaches this stage of his career.
Former MLB GM and current analyst at The Athletic Jim Bowden is adamant that the Tigers cannot extend Skubal this winter without rewriting the market. He reported that any deal would need to make Skubal the highest-paid pitcher in the sport “by a lot.” Detroit has never played in that stratosphere. And with the club and Skubal’s camp sitting hundreds of millions apart last winter, there’s no shortcut to closing that gap.
That is why the Tigers are listening. They cannot just let Skubal walk at the end of the 2026 season and only have a compensatory round draft pick to show for it.
Waiting until July makes little strategic sense.
The Tigers are positioned to be in the postseason race, and contenders rarely subtract their best arm during a hunt. The return would also be lighter midseason, when fewer teams are willing to part with blue-chip prospects and the timeline for impact shrinks. If the Tigers want the type of haul that resets a franchise, this winter is the window.
And the suitors are obvious.
The New York Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Boston Toronto Blue Jays all check the boxes Bowden laid out. They need to have big-market resources, strong farm systems, and long-term financial muscle. Each has publicly or privately acknowledged needing a frontline starter. Each knows the bidding starts high and goes higher.
Detroit doesn’t have to move Skubal.
They can run it back, hope their young core pushes them into October, and try again on extension talks next winter. But the Tigers will get an overwhelming offer from at least one of those clubs, and when they do, standing pat becomes harder to justify.
Unless Detroit suddenly becomes the kind of team that outbids the Dodgers or Yankees for a record-setting ace, the trade market may end up deciding Skubal’s future for them.
