00:00What's up Tigers fans, big news coming out of the arbitration process that directly concerns
00:05our ace, Tarek Skubal, let's break it down, according to a report from MLB.com's Mark
00:10Feinsand this Thursday, a three-person arbitration panel has ruled in favor of Tarek Skubal,
00:16they accepted his salary proposal for the 2026 season, which is set at $32 million,
00:22the Detroit Tigers have not officially confirmed this report yet, here's what this means right now,
00:26this decision does not change Skubal's status for the upcoming season, he will remain a Detroit
00:32Tiger unless he is traded, however the possibility of a trade has decreased as the offseason has
00:37progressed and other teams have moved on to different options, this ruling solely impacts
00:43his earnings. According to the salary tracking site SpotRack, this $32 million salary will make
00:50Skubal's base pay the fifth highest among all Major League Baseball pitchers, this is a historic
00:56contract, the $32 million award, is the highest salary ever given to a pitcher through the
01:01arbitration process in MLB history, it also easily surpasses the previous record, for a Tigers player
01:08in arbitration, which was the $1975 million deal agreed upon with David Price, to avoid a hearing back
01:14in 2015, for context, Skubal played the 2025 season under a one-year $10,150,000 contract that
01:23avoided arbitration, the Tigers had not gone to an arbitration hearing with a player, since Michael
01:28Fulmer in 2019, this year, with Skubal and his final year of arbitration eligibility, there was a
01:33significant gap, Skubal's camp filed at $32 million, while the Tigers filed at $19 million.
01:40By the rules of the process, the arbitration panel had to choose one of those two figures, with no room for
01:47a compromise number in between, because Skubal has over five years of service time, he and his agent
01:52Scott Boris were able to compare his value to the salaries of any MLB player, not just those who had
01:58gone through arbitration, this allowed them to use the top of the market, like Philadelphia's Zach
02:03Wheeler at $42 million, Texas's Jacob deGrom at $38 million, and the Yankees' Garrett Cole at $36 million.
02:11As fair comparisons, this ruling marks a significant moment, as the Tigers had not lost an arbitration
02:18hearing since the year 2000, when they lost cases against former outfielder Kareem Garcia and left-handed
02:25pitcher C.J. Nitkowski under then-general manager Randy Smith. Looking ahead to the 2026 payroll,
02:32Skubal's $32 million salary will make him the second-highest-paid player on the Detroit Tigers.
02:37This follows the team's agreement with left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez on a three-year, $115 million
02:44deal, which carries an average annual value of $38 million just this past Wednesday night.
02:51So, Tigers fans, with Skubal getting this record-setting deal for 2026 but still being
02:57just one season away from potential free agency, what's your take on his long-term future in Detroit?
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