The Cleveland Guardians faced an early exit from the postseason, losing to the Detroit Tigers in just three games during the wild-card round.

Cleveland’s difficulties in the postseason were primarily due to Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, who dominated Game 1 by allowing just three hits, one earned run, and racking up 14 strikeouts over 7.2 innings.

Skubal has emerged as the most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball this season. Since he plays in the same division as the Guardians, they have to face him several times throughout the year.

However, that could all change as soon as 2026. The 28-year-old pitcher is entering the final year of his contract, and the Tigers are not anywhere close to reaching a deal with their star pitcher.

MLB insider Jon Heyman reported on Thursday that the Tigers and Skubal are roughly $250 million apart in their negotiations for a new contract.

Detroit’s front office operates similarly to the Guardians’, but it has a bit more money to work with. However, spending over $250 million on a pitcher who will turn 30 next year is unlikely to be a move it will make.

Since it’s unlikely the two sides will reach a deal, the Tigers have a few options on how to handle Skubal next season.

Detroit might consider trading him during the offseason, which could yield a variety of promising prospects in return. Alternatively, it could wait and evaluate the team’s performance before deciding whether to move him ahead of the MLB trade deadline at the end of July or keep him, given that it is one of the best teams in the American League, and get one more postseason run out of him.

It seems unlikely that Skubal will still be with the Tigers by opening day 2027, which is excellent news for the Guardians. Given that Skubal is a left-handed pitcher and the Guardians mainly feature a left-handed batting lineup, this creates a tough matchup for Cleveland.

With a majority of the Guardians’ top prospects hitting left-handed and the team unwilling to spend on free agents, there isn’t a handful of right-handed bats coming to save the day against Skubal.

Cleveland has enjoyed some success against Skubal in the past, notably when it won Game 5 of last season’s American League Championship Series. However, Skubal has generally held the upper hand, maintaining an impressive career ERA of 2.33 and racking up 84 strikeouts in 12 matchups against the Guardians.