DETROIT — Tarik Skubal isn’t big on talking about himself, even in the midst of back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards. But as the Tigers’ ace discussed his improvement year over year in winning his second consecutive award on a conference call with reporters Wednesday evening, he dropped a line that inadvertently stood out like a 102 mph fastball.
“It’s not an individual sport; it’s a team sport. And as a team, I just wanna win,” Skubal said. “That’s kind of where I’m at. However I can help our team win, that’s what I’m gonna do. That’s kind of how I approach things, and I look forward to getting down to Lakeland [Fla.] in Spring Training and doing this thing, you know, all over again next year.”
That last sentence would be music to a Tiger fan’s ear. But at the moment, next year appears far from guaranteed.
While Skubal watched the awards announcement with friends and family from Las Vegas, where he’ll be part of the MLB Awards on Thursday night, MLB’s general managers were wrapping up their annual meetings down the street. Skubal was a topic of conversation there, too, but not just for his award.
As Skubal heads toward his final season before potential free agency, the trade speculation is percolating. And the Tigers, with potentially one more season of Skubal under team control, are trying to approach questions about Skubal’s future like batters approaching a Skubal fastball up and in.
“Tarik is a Detroit Tiger,” general manager Jeff Greenberg told reporters earlier Wednesday. “We know how good he is. We know what he has meant to this organization, especially the last couple of years. We’re not going to talk about our players in the context of trade or extension.”
It’s the same angle that Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris took when asked about Skubal’s situation at last month’s end-of-season press conference.
“I think that’s in fairness to Tarik, that’s in fairness to the Tigers,” Greenberg continued. “He’s a Tiger. We’re really happy to have him. Hopefully, he’s going to win his second Cy Young here in a couple hours. And that’s really it.”
The Tigers are not addressing whether they’ll listen to trade inquiries on Skubal, nor whether teams have inquired about the back-to-back Cy Young winner. It’s an approach in contrast with some other situations: Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, for example, told reporters on Tuesday that Paul Skenes will remain a Pirate next season despite trade speculation.
Skenes, who won the National League Cy Young Award on Thursday, is in a different situation, with four more years of team control before free agency. Skubal’s situation comes at the intersection of an approaching contract year with a position at the top of the game, a combination that could make him the most coveted player on the market next winter.
While that combination puts Skubal in a rare position, it puts the Tigers at a crossroads. Unless they can woo Skubal away from potential free agency with a long-term extension, a difficult proposition just a year out, they’ll have to decide whether to trade him now or hold onto him for next season, at least until the Trade Deadline, and make one more try at a playoff run. If the Tigers hold onto him through next season and he signs elsewhere as a free agent, rejecting a qualifying offer, they would get a compensation pick in the 2027 Draft.
Skubal’s mention in trade rumors is not new. He dealt with it in the summer of 2022, as then-Tigers GM Al Avila looked for ways to bring a talent infusion to a struggling club, before Skubal sustained a left forearm strain that led to flexor tendon surgery that sidelined him for nearly a year. He dealt with trade rumors again in the summer of ’24 as the Tigers became sellers. In both cases, nothing came close to a deal.
Skubal has refrained from discussing his contract situation. But when asked how he’s handling trade speculation, he said his previous experience has helped him stay focused.
“I think a lot of it’s similar to kind of how 2022 went,” Skubal said Wednesday. “I think a lot of that’s out of my control, especially the trade stuff. Obviously, contract-extension stuff is a little bit different, but the trade stuff is out of my control. I’ve given everything I have to this organization, and I want to be a Tiger for a very long time. But those things, the business part of the game, they’re just different, right? I don’t get to write my own contracts in that sense, so I’m just gonna do what I do and not really focus on any of that stuff.
“I’ve seen it. It’s not going to impact how I go about my day to day. It’s not going to impact how I’m going to attack my offseason and try to become the best version of myself come Spring Training next year. It’s not in my control at the end of the day. It doesn’t change, though, that I love the city of Detroit. Hopefully, I’m here, you know? I think that that’s kind of where I’m at with all that.”
