Skubal spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers and, over the last four seasons, has turned himself into one of the best pitchers in baseball.Thanks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and its handling of a player's first six seasons, he's been paid well below market salaries for a pitcher of his caliber.
But Skubal's ready to reach free agency after this season, providing his first opportunity to finally cash in on his hard work and success.Despite the Tigers' playoff appearance in 2025 and their willingness to spend to try and reach the postseason in 2026, a series of bad breaks, injuries, underperformance, and poor bullpen performance put them well under .500 heading into July.Given the higher prices teams are willing to pay for talent midseason, and the middling return organizations receive if a player leaves in free agency, the Tigers faced a choice.
Keep Skubal, hope their season turns around, and potentially watch him leave for just a draft pick this winter, or trade him to a contender for top prospects, years of control, and the certainty that you haven't let your star leave for nothing.DODGERS REPORTEDLY ACQUIRE ACE TARIK SKUBAL FROM TIGERS IN TRADE THAT STIRS UP MLB WORLDTarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers celebrates as he leaves the field in the fifth inning during Game 2 of the Division Series presented by Booking.com between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Monday, October 7, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.(Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images) (Lauren Leigh Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images)They traded him.
Makes sense, right? Sure, if they'd picked a different team.But because Detroit chose the offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Skubal has unwittingly become a villain around the league.Even worse, he echoed the position shared by players across baseball, like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, that the Dodgers are not bad for the sport because their owners are willing to accept lower pro...