There are a ton of things for Detroit Tigers fans to be excited about, but deep in the back of every fans' mind is Tarik Skubal's future, and understandably so. The latest update from Jon Heyman of the NY Post won't quell any concerns on that front.
"The Tigers made a long-term offer to superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal at some point, but they weren’t close,” Heyman said.
The Tigers made an extension offer, according to Heyman, but weren't close to getting a deal done. That sounds like good and bad news rolled into one.
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Tigers are one step closer to losing Tarik Skubal
On one hand, the Tigers making a long-term extension offer to Skubal is a good thing. It shows that they're willing to fork over a ton of money to keep arguably the best pitcher in the world around for a while. On the other hand, though, the fact that they weren't close at all doesn't sound good.
The Tigers should know better than anyone just how good Skubal is. He won the AL Cy Young award last season, and based on how he's looked to begin this season, he'll be right in the discussion this season as well. Assuming he can stay healthy, there's no reason to believe he won't be in the Cy Young race annually for several years to come. It's unclear what the offer that the Tigers sent his way actually was, but the fact that it wasn't close isn't ideal.
The Tigers might not have to extend Skubal now, but he's only under contract through the 2026 campaign. He's only guaranteed to be in a Tigers uniform this season and next. Assuming the Tigers don't want to have to bid against all 30 teams for his services, shouldn't they be more aggressive to keep him around now?
Ultimately, it only takes one good offer for both sides to come to an agreement. It looked like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had one foot out of Toronto before the Blue Jays gave him 500 million reasons to stay. One bad offer now doesn't mean that Skubal is a sure bet to leave. The fact that they weren't close, though, doesn't exactly give Tigers fans much hope for what's to come.