Even with the growing possibility of baseball’s longest work stoppage since the 1994-95 players’ strike, there’s no doubt Los Angeles Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal is about to earn big money.
Pitchers like Skubal, who owns two Cy Young Awards and a .247 ERA since the start of 2023, aren’t typically available in their prime. What team wouldn’t want to add a perennial All-Star who will pitch all of next season — assuming there is a 2027 season — at 30 years old? (Outside of the Rockies, Rays, and Guardians, of course.)
Owners want a salary cap and competitive balance, but the majority also want championships. The Athletic’s Andy McCullough spoke with Scott Boras, who represents Skubal, and multiple executives, all of whom agreed Skubal should still cash in; an unnamed executive told McCullough they believe Skubal could sign a 10-year, $400 million contract.
“Last time around, everybody talked about Skuby Doo,” Boras told McCullough. “It’s kind of like, with Skubal now, it’s Skuby Done. He’s proven it at all levels, in different markets, in different environments.”
Not even a lockout will stop ace Tarik Skubal from getting paid
In essence, Major League Baseball and its owners want to cut spending where possible. Look no further than the proposed contract limits, which would cap a free agent’s next deal at five years and $202 million. In that theoretical situation, Skubal also would have had the opportunity to re-sign with the Dodgers for no more than six years and $265 million.
On the one hand, we’re personally against teams handing out 10-year deals because they never age well. The best-case scenario is winning a championship in a player’s prime, as the Dodgers did with Shohei Ohtani (10 years, $700 million) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12 years, $325 million) the last two years. Otherwise, you wind up watching the player become dead weight on an inescapable contract, as the Padres are learning with Xander Bogaerts.
But that doesn’t mean we’re against players earning those deals. Why would anyone turn down a contract worth that much money, especially with deferrals? Just because we disagree with a team’s reasoning doesn’t mean Skubal or Ohtani didn’t deserve the opportunity.
Plenty of baseball fans, especially those in smaller markets, might disagree. They want a world where the Brewers, Guardians, and Rays compete for championships every year, and the Dodgers and Yankees aren’t guaranteed a World Series appearance. Never mind that the Yankees have had only one pennant since the start of 2010.
But if annual heavy spenders like the Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets want Skubal, they may make their move ahead of the lockout. We imagine it all depends on how quickly the dominant lefty wants to sign, though we’d personally advise him to do so ASAP.
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