After winning the 2024 AL Cy Young Award, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has been just as good this season. He has played a vital role in the Tigers’ early success, which included having the best record in MLB at the All-Star Break.
Skubal is the exact type of pitcher any franchise would want to build around. He is good enough to be the 11th Tiger to have his number retired.
However, one Tigers insider believes the chances are pretty low that Skubal will end his career in Detroit.
On an episode of Days of Roar: A Free Press Sports Detroit Tigers Podcast, host Evan Petzold made an off-handed comment about the likelihood Skubal leaves for a franchise with more money when he is a free agent after the 2026 season.
In expressing the urgency for the Tigers to translate their superb regular season play into a World Series crown, Petzold said:
“I’d love to see the Tigers get a controllable starter … some big boy names that could help you win the World Series in 2025, even if it means you don’t have [top prospect] Max Clark on your roster in 2027 when Tarik Skubal is pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.”
Petzold doubled down on the imperativeness for the Tigers to go for it all before Skubal potentially leaves.
“You have to capitalize on winning the World Series now because Tarik Skubal is all but guaranteed to be in a different uniform after the 2026 season.”
The MLB trade deadline is a little less than two weeks away, and if Petzold’s assertion is correct, the Tigers will want to make a splash.
