Tarik Skubal And The Detroit Tigers Have The Largest Arbitration Gap In MLB History

Tarik Skubal is arguably the top pitcher in baseball right now. He's won two consecutive AL Cy Young Awards, just the 12th pitcher ever to collect back-to-back Cy Youngs. He also earned the pitching Triple Crown in 2024, leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. And in clutch situations, he seemed to get even better. In Game 5 of the 2025 ALDS, Skubal set a postseason record with seven strikeouts in a row, and he finished with 13 in the game, the most ever in a winner-take-all setting.

You'd think with all of those accomplishments, Skubal would command a high salary. Yet his team, the Detroit Tigers, doesn't see it that way.

MLB teams submitted their filings for salary arbitration this week, which sets up arbitration fights later this offseason. To quickly summarize the process: If a player is eligible for arbitration, they submit a salary they'd like to receive, while their team submits another salary that's less than that amount. A third-party arbitrator reviews the numbers, analyzes the player's accomplishments, and decides which salary the player will receive.

Skubal came in with $32 million. The Tigers responded with $19 million. Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the $13 million difference is the widest gap in arbitration history.

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The arbitration hearing will happen in February, and we might see another record broken then. If the arbitrator rules in Skubal's favor, his $32 million salary will be the highest arbitration salary in MLB history. Juan Soto currently holds the top spot on that list, receiving a $31 million contract with the New York Yankees for the 2024 season. Should the arbitrator rule in favor of the Tigers, Skubal's $19 million salary would be the second-highest arbitration salary for a pitcher. David Price received $19.75 million in 2015—coincidentally, he was also on the Tigers at the time.

Typically, players in their fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons of MLB service are eligible for arbitration, so most players go through the process three times. Skubal has over five years of MLB service, and he'll be compared to other players who were a year from entering free agency. However, players (and their agents) can make special requests to ignore service time if the player has been exceptional. Two Cy Young awards and excellent pitching stats certainly support Skubal's case.

If the Tigers and Skubal can't agree on a long-term deal, the pitcher will enter free agency after the 2026 season. The Tigers could still re-sign him in that case, though they'd competing with other teams. After all, it's not every day a top pitcher becomes available on the open market.

However this shakes out, it's going to be perhaps the most fascinating arbitration hearing Major League Baseball has ever seen.