Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case against the Detroit Tigers on Feb. 5, earning a record salary of $32 million after the Tigers requested a 2026 salary of $19 million.
Skubal’s victory after a hearing before a three-person panel the day before sets him up for a final year in Detroit before the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner is expected to receive a record haul in free agency.
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Before hitting the market, though, he earned a landmark victory over his team.
The $13 million gap between team and player was a record in salary arbitration, and Skubal’s victory was a record for a player who went to a hearing, topping Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $19.9 million award in 2024. It’s also the single highest one-year salary for an arbitration-eligible player, edging Juan Soto’s $31 million one-year pact with the Yankees in 2024.
Skubal is certainly worth it: Over the past two seasons, he’s struck out 469 batters in 387 1/3 innings, going 31-10 with a 2.30 ERA and winning the AL’s pitching triple crown this year. He also led the majors with a 7.30 strikeout-walk ratio and a 0.89 WHIP.
For one year, Skubal will join forces with top free agent pitcher Framber Valdez, who on the same day Skubal and the Tigers went to trial was agreeing to a three-year, $115 million deal with the Tigers. Valdez’s $38.3 million average annual salary is a record for a left-handed pitcher, and will earn more this season than his Cy Young-winning mate.
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That will change next year when Skubal hits the market. For now, he’s already got a fairly big win in his column.
The three-person arbitration panel is tasked not with determining which salary to award, but rather whether to go higher or lower than the midpoint of the two sides’ offers – in this case, $25.5 million. Skubal’s body of work clearly moved the panel to favor a salary north of that – and Skubal will be compensated in record fashion for what’s likely his final year in Detroit.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tarik Skubal contract: Tigers ace wins historic arbitration hearing
