If there’s one thing you should always expect the best pitcher in the world to do, it’s win. And for Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, his win Thursday was arguably the biggest one he has earned in his career. Skubal won his arbitration hearing against the Tigers and was awarded an arbitration-record $32 million contract for 2026 before he becomes a free agent at season’s end.
Players become arbitration-eligible after accruing three years of MLB service time, and a player is arb-eligible for three seasons before reaching free agency. Before each of those seasons, the team and player each propose a salary figure. The two sides can then negotiate and agree on a one-year or multiyear deal to avoid an arbitration hearing. If they cannot come to terms, they present their cases to an independent panel, which decides the player’s salary. In his final year of arbitration, Skubal, who is represented by baseball mega-agent Scott Boras, filed at $32 million. The Tigers filed at $19 million.
Skubal’s arbitration win is a massive victory for several reasons. First and foremost, for the player himself, who gets rewarded for being the best pitcher on the planet the past two seasons. The Tigers’ ace is coming off back-to-back Cy Young Awards and a 2025 season that saw him go 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts.
He now becomes the highest-paid player ever through the arbitration system, breaking New York Mets superstar Juan Soto’s record of $31 million with the Yankees in 2024 and David Price’s pitcher record of $19.75 million set in 2015 with the Tigers. Prior to Thursday’s result, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $19.9 million salary with the Blue Jays in 2024 was the largest ever awarded via arbitration hearing.
Secondly, going into CBA negotiations after the upcoming MLB season, Skubal’s win gives significant momentum to players, especially the upper echelon of young players who have yet to reach free agency. While no one knows the future of the current arbitration system, many in the industry already wonder if the person to shatter Skubal’s new record will be Pirates ace Paul Skenes. Skenes is already on a historic run to begin his career, with a Rookie of the Year Award and NL Cy Young Award in his first two MLB seasons, and his value continues to skyrocket.
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Last but certainly not least, Skubal’s arbitration victory is a huge win for Boras, putting a capper on an impressive offseason that saw the superagent’s clients pull in close to $1 billion dollars in free agency. Boras took a big swing with a $32 million filing that had the potential to break all the arbitration records, and it paid off.
Maybe Thursday’s result will be a lesson for teams under the current system. Just because the system allows you to low-ball some of the best players in the sport — in this case, the best pitcher in baseball — doesn’t mean you should or will get away with it. But as is the case with service-time manipulation, all it takes to change this process is a tweak in the CBA. A lot of topics will be on the table in the upcoming negotiations, but expect the MLB Players Association to be looking to adjust the current arbitration system.
Now that Skubal vs. the Tigers is settled, where do the two sides go from here?
While they lost the hearing, this is still a great week for the Tigers, who landed free-agent left-hander Framber Valdez on a three-year, $115 million deal on Wednesday. Valdez, who was the best remaining free agent available, gives Detroit a bona fide No. 2 behind Skubal and one of the best 1-2 punches in the American League. To this point, it had been a very quiet offseason for Detroit, with their roster looking incredibly similar to the one that was knocked out of the ALDS by the Seattle Mariners. But the addition of Valdez is huge for the Tigers, who improved their rotation in a big way and can now go toe-to-toe with any team’s frontline starters.
For Skubal, he goes into his final season before free agency as a much wealthier man. What’s more, the addition of Valdez is likely a sign that Detroit has no intention of moving its superstar ace this season, unless things go horribly wrong in the first half. With the rotation reinforced and the team’s outlook for 2026 improved, Skubal and Valdez could be the duo to get Detroit over the hump and back to the ALCS.
What Skubal has done over the past 24 months is downright remarkable. As he goes into what might be his final season in Motown, the baseball world will be watching to see what else he has up his sleeve.
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