Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, arguably the foremost name discussed amid a fast-approaching MLB trade deadline, wants to stay in Detroit, potentially throwing the entire trade market into further turbulence.
Skubal, the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner, made a passionate plea to remain a Tiger as the Aug. 3 trade deadline nears.
“I’ve never been more motivated to try to win a World Series for this city, the team drafted me in 2018 and helped develop me,” Skubal told reporters on Thursday. “That’s always been the goal, and that will never change unless I’m told I’m on a different team.”
Decision Factors
The Tigers face a particularly momentous decision at the trade deadline. Skubal will enter free agency after the season and could reap the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history, even after undergoing elbow surgery earlier this year. A Skubal deal potentially exceeding $325 million, the record for a free-agent pitcher set by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in late 2023, is something Detroit could have reluctance absorbing—particularly since the franchise lost its traditional local media rights deal with the defunct Main Street Sports Group before the season.
