Source: Tarik Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.
January 9, 2026
Source: Tarik Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.
31 comments
I’m sorry but you just have to laugh. What a sorry organization.
Tarik kind of bold for filing for the highest arbitration of all-time though.
Per Jeff Passan
> The $13 million spread is by far the largest in salary-arbitration history and sets up for a fascinating hearing in February.
Per Stavenhagen.
> The Tigers have gone to only one arbitration hearing since 2001 (Michael Fulmer).
Embarrassing
Embarrassing really.
Can someone give me an ELI5 for what all this means?
Yeah he’s not coming back. I can’t believe the FO actually doesn’t want him back.
Huh, I feel like $32 million is pretty reasonable for someone that just won back to back CY’s
As unserious as it gets.
The Tigers paid David Price $19.5 million in 2015 to avoid an arbitration hearing. Wild that they think they can pay a more accomplished pitcher less money 11 years later
Edit to add: adjusted for inflation, that number is about $27 million today
Somebody fire Chris illitch
Ahh, here come the amateur MLB execs in the comments who don’t know how arbitration works yet are 100% certain the Tigers are doing it wrong.
Passan also tweeted Detroit offered the largest salary for an arbitration eligible pitcher
Everyone is reacting to this wrong.
This is arbitration.
$32 million would be an all time record.
I agree that the Tigers should have filed somewhere in the $20 million range, but if you read between the lines, this means Tarik is just looking for record money in general.
He was never going to take a reasonable deal in Detroit.
He’s gone.
Edit: Passan pointing out that our offer is the highest a pitcher has ever received in MLB history in Arb.
A lot of you don’t understand arbitration.
The whole point of it is to not pay free market prices.
Already a lot of outrage in here, but people need to understand how arbitration works. It’s not an open market with free agency, it’s a precedent-based system that is inherently team friendly. Detroit’s filing is not out of the ordinary for this situation and is closer to “reality” than Skubal’s filing is. It’s not “pathetic”, “embarrassing”, or any other adjective. Hopefully they settle before a hearing of course.
Scott Boras masterclass, dude is the champion of getting his athletes the most amount of money possible
Skubal’s projection was $18.5 mil, they offered $19 and they came back with a larger amount than Juan Soto’s arbitration. They’re probably going to come to an agreement in the mid 20s anyways.
David Price is the current MLB record holder for a pitcher at arbitration at 19.75M.
Tarik Skubal’s current salary is $10M. The largest ever salary jump in arbitration was to deGrom at 9.6M, taking him from 7.4 to 17M.
The all time largest arbitration salary was to Soto at 31.5M. Shohei “only” got 30M.
So, does Tarik Skubal deserve more than 19M? Absolutely. Was the Tigers number embarrassing? I don’t think so, it matches up with other top pitchers of the time. Should he be the highest paid arbitration player ever? Me as a Skubal fan says yes, but reality says probably not. In the end, this is a negotiation. I’m sure Tarik understands this and in the end he’s going to get way more than 19M
Skubal was at $10.15M for arb2 compared to Soto who had 23M in arb2 then 31M in arb3. Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t how much you make in arb2 limit your arb3 ceiling? This filing seems designed just to rile up fans then actually settling much closer to the Tigers numbe.
Just trade him ffs
Pizza boy should just sell the damn team if he can’t pay the best pitcher in baseball
God just give him the money. Make him happy.
I think 25 is fair for both sides. This is just how arbitration works so nothing to be concerned about.
Woof
Sell the team, sell the team
With the Tigers offer being so low, I don’t see any way Skubal/Boras move toward a compromise. I beleive an arbitrator has to decided between the two numbers. If it’s a choice between the two numbers, I don’t see any way an arbitrator would go as low as $19 mill. Basically would most likely award the $32. Had Tigers offer been a little more reasonable, it’d be a tougher decision for the arbitrator or boras may be more willing to meet in the middle somewhere. My guess is that Harris shot himself in the foot with such a low offer.
Skubal is over playing his hand here. The arbitrator can only pick one side. And arb goes by previous pay outs for similar players. The closest comparison got 19.5 Had he asked 25 26 he would have gotten it. 32 is a bit high.
For those of you misunderstanding and thinking arbitration numbers are equivalent or are supposed to be close to free agency numbers, look at what Greene agreed to today ($5mil). He’s obviously worth much more right now than say $30mil over 6 years, but this should give you an idea how team friendly these year contracts are meant to be over a free agent contract. I’m not saying the Tigers shouldn’t have gone a bit higher, but a lot of people need to do a little reading to better understand how this works.
Mike Ilitch kept paying Verlander
I can’t tell if this is a hit job by Boras to make the Tigers look dumb & cheap to the common fan or what….the optics look crazy considering dude just did a publicity tour through the city just to ask for almost double the largest arb number a pitcher has ever gotten is crazy.
Think it’s just time to enjoy the last season of Skubal being a Tiger.
31 comments
I’m sorry but you just have to laugh. What a sorry organization.
Tarik kind of bold for filing for the highest arbitration of all-time though.
Per Jeff Passan
> The $13 million spread is by far the largest in salary-arbitration history and sets up for a fascinating hearing in February.
Per Stavenhagen.
> The Tigers have gone to only one arbitration hearing since 2001 (Michael Fulmer).
Embarrassing
Embarrassing really.
Can someone give me an ELI5 for what all this means?
Yeah he’s not coming back. I can’t believe the FO actually doesn’t want him back.
Huh, I feel like $32 million is pretty reasonable for someone that just won back to back CY’s
As unserious as it gets.
The Tigers paid David Price $19.5 million in 2015 to avoid an arbitration hearing. Wild that they think they can pay a more accomplished pitcher less money 11 years later
Edit to add: adjusted for inflation, that number is about $27 million today
Somebody fire Chris illitch
Ahh, here come the amateur MLB execs in the comments who don’t know how arbitration works yet are 100% certain the Tigers are doing it wrong.
Passan also tweeted Detroit offered the largest salary for an arbitration eligible pitcher
Everyone is reacting to this wrong.
This is arbitration.
$32 million would be an all time record.
I agree that the Tigers should have filed somewhere in the $20 million range, but if you read between the lines, this means Tarik is just looking for record money in general.
He was never going to take a reasonable deal in Detroit.
He’s gone.
Edit: Passan pointing out that our offer is the highest a pitcher has ever received in MLB history in Arb.
A lot of you don’t understand arbitration.
The whole point of it is to not pay free market prices.
[https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/2009444223632683399](https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/2009444223632683399)
Yep, he’s definitely only worth 4 million more than 2025 Alex Cobb
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/tigers
Fangraphs estimated arb value is 17.8 million
Exact same as MLBTR https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/projected-arbitration-salaries-for-2026.html
(Not sure if they use the same formula)
So I think Tigers aren’t being stingy here
Already a lot of outrage in here, but people need to understand how arbitration works. It’s not an open market with free agency, it’s a precedent-based system that is inherently team friendly. Detroit’s filing is not out of the ordinary for this situation and is closer to “reality” than Skubal’s filing is. It’s not “pathetic”, “embarrassing”, or any other adjective. Hopefully they settle before a hearing of course.
Scott Boras masterclass, dude is the champion of getting his athletes the most amount of money possible
Skubal’s projection was $18.5 mil, they offered $19 and they came back with a larger amount than Juan Soto’s arbitration. They’re probably going to come to an agreement in the mid 20s anyways.
David Price is the current MLB record holder for a pitcher at arbitration at 19.75M.
Tarik Skubal’s current salary is $10M. The largest ever salary jump in arbitration was to deGrom at 9.6M, taking him from 7.4 to 17M.
The all time largest arbitration salary was to Soto at 31.5M. Shohei “only” got 30M.
So, does Tarik Skubal deserve more than 19M? Absolutely. Was the Tigers number embarrassing? I don’t think so, it matches up with other top pitchers of the time. Should he be the highest paid arbitration player ever? Me as a Skubal fan says yes, but reality says probably not. In the end, this is a negotiation. I’m sure Tarik understands this and in the end he’s going to get way more than 19M
Skubal was at $10.15M for arb2 compared to Soto who had 23M in arb2 then 31M in arb3. Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t how much you make in arb2 limit your arb3 ceiling? This filing seems designed just to rile up fans then actually settling much closer to the Tigers numbe.
Just trade him ffs
Pizza boy should just sell the damn team if he can’t pay the best pitcher in baseball
God just give him the money. Make him happy.
I think 25 is fair for both sides. This is just how arbitration works so nothing to be concerned about.
Woof
Sell the team, sell the team
With the Tigers offer being so low, I don’t see any way Skubal/Boras move toward a compromise. I beleive an arbitrator has to decided between the two numbers. If it’s a choice between the two numbers, I don’t see any way an arbitrator would go as low as $19 mill. Basically would most likely award the $32. Had Tigers offer been a little more reasonable, it’d be a tougher decision for the arbitrator or boras may be more willing to meet in the middle somewhere. My guess is that Harris shot himself in the foot with such a low offer.
Skubal is over playing his hand here. The arbitrator can only pick one side. And arb goes by previous pay outs for similar players. The closest comparison got 19.5 Had he asked 25 26 he would have gotten it. 32 is a bit high.
For those of you misunderstanding and thinking arbitration numbers are equivalent or are supposed to be close to free agency numbers, look at what Greene agreed to today ($5mil). He’s obviously worth much more right now than say $30mil over 6 years, but this should give you an idea how team friendly these year contracts are meant to be over a free agent contract. I’m not saying the Tigers shouldn’t have gone a bit higher, but a lot of people need to do a little reading to better understand how this works.
Mike Ilitch kept paying Verlander
I can’t tell if this is a hit job by Boras to make the Tigers look dumb & cheap to the common fan or what….the optics look crazy considering dude just did a publicity tour through the city just to ask for almost double the largest arb number a pitcher has ever gotten is crazy.
Think it’s just time to enjoy the last season of Skubal being a Tiger.