Tarik Skubal says Tigers never made him a long-term offer in offseason: 'I’ll deal with the contract stuff at the end of the year'
Tarik Skubal says Tigers never made him a long-term offer in offseason: 'I’ll deal with the contract stuff at the end of the year'
Sean Leahy Sat, March 7, 2026 at 4:15 PM UTC
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Tarik Skubal said that the Detroit Tigers never made him a long-term offer during the offseason and talks regarding his future will be on hold until after the 2026 MLB season.
The 29-year-old Tigers ace won his arbitration hearing in February, which featured the largest filing difference in MLB arbitration history. While the team was seeking to pay Skubal $19 million, the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner was awarded a $32 million salary for the 2026 season by a three-person independent panel.
Despite the resolution to his arbitration case, Skubal's future in Detroit remains cloudy. The left-hander has been with the franchise since being a ninth-round selection in the 2018 MLB draft. He could become an unrestricted free agent next winter and command at least $400 million in his next deal. That leaves the Tigers with a question about what to do if he remains unsigned come the trade deadline.
Any contract talks for Skubal are done until the offseason, however, he told USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
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“There is no offer and there won't be an offer until the end of the season," Skubal said. "My focus is on playing baseball and winning this year. I’ll deal with the contract stuff at the end of the year, and then we'll kind of see. And that’s fine. It’s their decision."
Skubal will make his one and only World Baseball Classic start Saturday night against Great Britain (8 p.m. ET; Fox). He's expected to throw around 55 pitches and then rejoin the Tigers in Florida to continue his preparation for the MLB season as Detroit eyes a third straight playoff berth.
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The Tigers bolstered their pitching rotation in the offseason adding lefty Framber Valdez and bringing back Justin Verlander, who won an MVP and one of his three Cy Youngs during his first stint in Detroit. We don't know if this will be Skubal's final season in Detroit, but management certainly went out and spent the money to go all-in on trying to secure a World Series this year.
The contract will come later; for now, Skubal is looking to be playing deep into October.
"That's where my focus is, trying to win a World Series for the city of Detroit, the team that drafted me in 2018," Skubal said. "The Tigers fans are excited, they're really invested in this club, and so are we.
"... You can kind of see that a World Series is attainable with the additions that we've made. And that's all you can ask for, is to play on a team with World Series aspirations year in and year out. So it's going to be a ton of fun this year."
Source: “AOL Sports”
