The Detroit Tigers have one of the best pitchers in baseball throwing for them at the moment. Tarik Skubal is in the middle of a dominant season, one that's already on track to surpass his 2024 Cy Young campaign.
With Skubal playing at such a high level and his contract extension coming up, there is a lot of speculation over how high his deal will go. During an appearance on Pardon My Take, Skubal was asked by one of the hosts if he would accept a 10-year contract worth $425 million.
Skubal gave an answer, which provides insight into what the Tigers' ace is looking for ahead of a major contract extension. "That sounds good," said Skubal.
A contract of that magnitude would put Skubal as the most expensive pitcher in MLB history, above the previous record holder, Yoshinobu Yamamoto's $325 million. It would put him in elite company with only Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the only players in MLB history with contracts worth over $400 million.
While the hypothetical contract offer wasn't serious, with how Skubal has pitched, that kind of deal might be all the Tigers can do to keep Skubal. In 2025, Skubal had a 2.16 ERA across 13 starts, which included a 94-pitch masterpiece in which he shut out the Cleveland Guardians.
In his 83.1 innings pitched, Skubal has only walked seven batters, while he's struck out a ridiculous 105 batters. His Cy Young season in 2024, Skubal had 6.4 WAR, 228 strikeouts, 18 wins, and a 2.39 ERA, all of which led at least the American League.
So far in 2025, Skubal has amassed 3.1 WAR and six wins. While he's a ways away in the win column from matching 2024, he's on track to surpass his 2024 WAR total and his strikeout total.
If he does, the hypothetical $425 million contract would become slightly more realistic. While the Tigers do plan to pay Skubal, the proposed contract might be too much for the Tigers to spend on a pitcher.
Surpassing the previous pitcher contract record by $100 million might be too large a leap. But, with how Skubal is pitching in 2025, it might not be too unrealistic.