Tigers' Tarik Skubal breaks silence on contract extension talks

The Detroit Tigers are faced with one of the more challenging problems of any team this offseason. Tarik Skubal, who is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, is heading into the final year of club control in 2026.

If he were to depart in free agency for nothing, it would be a complete disaster. Even if he were to be traded, it would be a huge blow to the organization. An extension is the best path forward, but there's been an impasse in contract talks.

After his second consecutive AL Cy Young Award win, Skubal shared a message on his contract talks. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press shared Skubal's comments, which revealed where the ace stands on contract talks, his trade rumors, and how he feels about Detroit and the Tigers.

Tigers' Tarik Skubal breaks silence on contract talks

"Contract extension stuff is a little bit different," Skubal said, "but trade stuff is out of my control. I've given everything I have to this organization. I want to be a Tiger for a very long time. ... I love Detroit. Hopefully, I'm here. That's where I'm at with all of that."

On the surface, this quote from Skubal is some good news for Tigers fans. He said he's interested in staying in Detroit and wants to stay for a long time.

But, there's an important caveat to this comment that he didn't say: Skubal still wants to be paid his dues. The Tigers ace is likely to land a deal north of $300 million, and potentially into the $400 million range.

There's been an indication that Detroit isn't willing to break the bank for Skubal, which has included the two sides being hundreds of millions of dollars apart in negotiations.

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Skubal is a Scott Boras client, and more often than not, his clients all hit free agency intending to land massive contracts. There's no denying Skubal deserves such a big deal, but having the risk of losing Skubal is a tricky situation for Detroit.

He's a two-time Cy Young Award winner and is coming off an incredible 2025 campaign. He had a 2.21 ERA with 6.5 bWAR, 241 strikeouts, and a career-high 187 ERA+ in 2025.

Signing such a player won't come cheap, but with Skubal putting up similar numbers in 2024 and 2025, his approaching extension is going to be record-breaking.

As much as Skubal says he's interested in staying in Detroit, he and the Tigers front office need to agree to a huge extension.

A big extension doesn't seem likely, but these comments from Skubal are a sign that, if the Tigers are willing to break the bank, they can keep the lefty ace for years to come.

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• How Tigers' GM Scott Harris might've revealed his concerning Tarik Skubal plan