Well it’s certainly been an eventful few days in Tigertown. After a fairly shocking signing of top free agent starter Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million deal on Wednesday, Tarik Skubal won his arbitration battle and set a new standard for elite third year arbitration eligible players by securing a $32 million contract for 2026.
I’m not going to look the gift horse in the mouth here. We could wish the Tigers made a bigger move last offseason. You could wish for another bat. Still, the Tigers made a huge move to improve their rotation for 2026, turning it into arguably the best in baseball, and improved the bullpen by pushing presumed starting options into the pen and adding a starter that tends to eat more innings per start than most. There’s a lot to like.
The Tigers are now rocking a well above average $215 million estimated payroll heading into spring camp, blowing the rest of the AL Central out of the water in that regard. As a result, a lot of questions we’ve all had about the Ilitch family’s real interest in trying to win something, and about Scott Harris’ ability to pull off a big deal with some creativity have been answered. By going heavy in average annual value on the deal, complete with a signing bonus, some deferred money, and an opt-out for Valdez after year two, Harris pulled off not just a good deal from a competitive standpoint, but an opportunistic and fairly innovative one by franchise standards.
Of course, he got worked in the arbitration hearing, but that wasn’t much of a surprise and I don’t think anyone is begrudging Skubal getting paid what he’s worth.
My question is whether all this has you feeling differently about the club’s willingness and ability to operate as a contending team for the long haul? Or do you just feel more optimistic about 2026?