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Reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal has two more seasons of team control with the Detroit Tigers, but both sides are already thinking about the future.
Skubal and the Tigers avoided arbitration this winter by agreeing on a one-year, $10,150,000 pact. Asked how his negotiations have gone with his team on a long-term deal, Skubal stayed coy.
“I'll keep that pretty private,” Skubal told The Associated Press on Sunday. “But I love playing in Detroit and I'm excited to get down to Spring Training.”
Though Skubal is coming off, by far, the best year of his career (18-4, 2.39 ERA, 228 SO), he has been a reliable presence in the Tigers' rotation for a few seasons now. Flexor tendon surgery in 2022 prevented him from pitching a full 2023, but in 15 starts, he had a 2.80 ERA and over 100 strikeouts.
His emergence in 2024 both catapulted him onto the national stage and kept the Tigers in playoff contention even after the team sold at the trade deadline. The Tigers ultimately fell to the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series with Skubal throwing two lights-out playoff games before a sub-par Game 5 that sent the Guardians to the ALCS.
Tarik Skubal is ‘confident' in the Tigers' success
The Tigers are entering 2025 with some momentum, and that's not lost on Skubal.
“We're a young team, and a hungry team,” Skubal said. “I'm as confident as I was at the end of the year going into Spring Training with the additions we made and the guys we have coming back.”
One of those additions is former New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, whose emergence as a leadoff hitter helped New York return to the World Series. Skubal talked up his new teammate with some humor.
“Gleyber Torres hit one probably 470 feet off me at Comerica [Park], so I'm glad he's on our team,” he said.
The Tigers have also added Alex Cobb in hopes that he could stay healthy and recapture his old form. He threw just 16.1 innings for the Guardians in 2024, but in the two years before, threw a combined 300 innings for the San Francisco Giants.
With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training in just a couple weeks, the Tigers may not be done yet. They still need another bat and, after missing out on Anthony Santander, may use the next week as a chance to double down on its mission to land Alex Bregman. The free agent third baseman is still on the market with the Chicago Cubs bowing out of his pursuit over the weekend.