Tarik Skubal's Historic 2026 Tigers Contract Reportedly Revealed After MLB Record Arbitration Case

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal reportedly won his arbitration case, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, setting an MLB record by being awarded a $32 million salary for the 2026 MLB season.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Skubal brought his Cy Young award plaques to the hearing but never presented them to the arbitrator to make his case. Rosenthal noted former San Francisco Giants star Tim Lincecum put his Cy Young awards on a table at a 2009 hearing. Skubal, however, never reached that point, though he reportedly had the awards to show if needed.

The news comes one day after the Tigers signed left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million contract in free agency, according to MLB.com's Tim Stebbins.

Much of the focus in Detroit this offseason has been on Skubal's future and the apparent divide that existed between him and the organization on a long-term contract.

After Skubal's first Cy Young season in 2024, Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network reported the Tigers offered him a four-year, $80 million extension.

In a separate report from Oct. 16, Heyman noted the "baseline" from Skubal's camp is $400 million. He had as good an argument as any pitcher in recent memory has to hit that threshold.

This agreement came after the Tigers and Skubal were far apart in arbitration. He filed at $32 million, while the club countered at $19 million. Even though it seemed like the end result would be somewhere in the middle, it does speak to how wide the gulf was between the two sides.

Skubal's $32 million salary is the richest arbitration deal in MLB history, surpassing Juan Soto's 2024 salary ($31 million) as the richest pre-arbitration deal. The difference is Soto signed his agreement with the New York Yankees before they went to arbitration.

Skubal has led the AL in ERA in each of the past two seasons, recording 469 strikeouts and allowing just 283 hits in 387.1 innings since the start of 2024. His 12.6 fWAR during that span is 1.5 more than any other pitcher.

Age and durability are also two things working in Skubal's favor. Next season will be his age-29 campaign and he hasn't missed a start since returning from flexor tendon surgery midway through the 2023 season.

Advanced metrics confirm that Skubal is as dominant as the traditional numbers show. He has led all pitchers in pitching run values in 2024 and 2025, while ranking in the 91st percentile or better in fastball velocity, average exit velocity, chase percentage, whiff percentage, strikeout percentage, walk percentage and hard-hit percentage last season.

Skubal has proven to be effective on the biggest stage with a 2.04 ERA in six playoff starts over the past two seasons. He allowed two or fewer runs and five or fewer hits in five of those games.

With Skubal's salary for the upcoming season now known, the Tigers can either hold on to him or see what teams may be willing to offer in a potential trade.