Tigers' 'Guts' to Make Tarik Skubal Trade Doubted by MLB Exec amid Rumors

At least one AL executive doubts the Detroit Tigers will trade Tarik Skubal, regardless of the pitcher's expiring contract or what the club could get in return.

Skubal, who is on track to win back-to-back AL Cy Young awards, is only under team control for one more season before he becomes eligible for free agency.

"I imagine they'll consider it, if the bidding gets high enough," the executive told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand about a potential Skubal trade. "I'm not sure if they'll have the guts to do it."

The Tigers are looking to regroup this offseason after an 87-win campaign ended with a five-game ALDS loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Skubal, drafted by the Tigers in 2018, made his MLB debut in 2020 and has since developed into one of the game's top starters alongside Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes.

He played up to the expectations set by his 2024 AL Cy Young campaign by recording a career-low 2.21 ERA through 31 starts and 195.1 innings pitched this season.

Skubal came to rely on his changeup as his primary pitch for the first time in 2025. That pitch, alongside a fastball that averaged 97.6 miles per hour, helped him post a 97th-percentile chase rate of 35.1 percent (h/t Baseball Savant).

Those numbers make the offer the Tigers reportedly offered Skubal ahead of the 2024 season look even farther below market value.

According to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Skubal rejected an offer for four years and less than $100 million which would have delayed his free agency until 2028.

Petzold's report came shortly after the New York Post's Jon Heyman described Skubal's projected minimum for his next contract as $400 million.

After finishing the 2024 season with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, the Tigers increased their spending to rank 14th in 2025 with an active payroll of $106 million, per Spotrac.

Detroit may need to raise that payroll ceiling in order to make Skubal an offer that could compare to what he could receive if he tests free agency next offseason.

If Tigers ownership is unwilling to spend that money, however, Detroit may need to at least consider putting Skubal on the trade block rather than risk losing an elite pitcher for nothing in winter 2026.

One NL executive told Feinsand that Skubal's trade value has a "baseline somewhere north of what Milwaukee received for Corbin Burnes" in February 2024.

The Milwaukee Brewers traded Burnes and the final year of his contract to the Baltimore Orioles ahead of the 2024 season, bringing in Joey Ortiz, DL Hall and a 2024 draft pick in return. At the time, Burnes was three seasons removed from his last Cy Young campaign in 2021.

An AL executive meanwhile told Feinsand: "It would have to be two or three Top 100 type guys. Skubal is at another level from Burnes, but that return is a good floor."

Another AL executive added, "I bet they will have to add Major League players elsewhere to consider it. They will need to demonstrate they improved the club overall."

For the second straight October, the Tigers came two wins shy of an ALCS berth this month. If the club doesn't get any closer to resolving contract negotiations with their ace, Detroit may ultimately need to decide if a better shot at a longer 2026 postseason could be worth risking missing out on that potential trade return.