He is the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the American League.He's become one of the most consistent pitchers in Major League Baseball.
He offers a rare blend of elite stuff that can miss bats when necessary along with the command and control to avoid putting extra runners on base.To their credit, the Detroit Tigers held on to Skubal over the offseason, despite immense interest from other clubs.Instead, ownership and the team's front office doubled down on their surprising 2025 season, coming up just short of an ALCS berth after losing to the Seattle Mariners.
They added Framber Valdez, one of the best available free-agent starters.They brought back Gleyber Torres and Justin Verlander, and added Kenley Jansen to stabilize the back end of the bullpen.TARIK SKUBAL GETS INTO SHOUTING MATCH WITH RIVAL'S DUGOUT AFTER STRIKEOUT, HELD BACK BY TEAMMATEDetroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal reacts after striking out Chicago White Sox third baseman Colson Montgomery with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, on June 19, 2026.
(Lon Horwedel/Imagn Images)But despite playing in arguably the single worst league in modern baseball history, the Tigers as of Thursday afternoon are just 34-46.They're 7.5 games behind in the AL Central, and five games back in the race for the third wild-card spot.
And therein lies the difficulty.There are five teams ahead of the Tigers in the American League standings.Skubal has just returned from an arm injury that required surgery, and has yet to really dominate since rejoining the rotation.
His velocity is down a bit in 2026 compared to 2025, but his track record is as good as anyone.And the AL this season is so underwhelming that even at 34-46, Detroit might have a path to postseason baseball.All these factors complicate a potential trade, which is why it's not surprising that Detroit is making big demands of any team interested in acquiring Skubal for a playoff run of their own.TIGERS INCREA...