Will Tigers Pony up for Skubal

[oblong]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

$38.5 for valdez and you wont give your home grown, cy young x2 starter more than $19?

The story is that Boras insisted on taking this to arbitration.  Why should they give an arb number $1 higher than they think they can win the case with?

The can't force him to sign a contract.

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, Longgone said:

They didn't "low ball" him, Arbitration isn't intended to reflect what a players value would be in free agency.

He isnt asking for free agent money. That would be between 30 and 40 million per. 

[romad1]

The MLB media jackals need Skubal story to keep the clickbait clicking.  The worst slop i've ever seen has been generated by Yankee writers but others are putting out worse nonsense. 

[4hzglory]

3 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

He isnt asking for free agent money. That would be between 30 and 40 million per. 

However, he is asking for a $21 mil raise (basically 3 times last year's salary) which is by far the record both in percent and $.  For comparison, Soto received an $8 mil raise which was just under 35%.

[Longgone]

4 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

He isnt asking for free agent money. That would be between 30 and 40 million per. 

Some think 32 is between 30 and 40.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

He isnt asking for free agent money. That would be between 30 and 40 million per. 

It's been pointed out here already by multiple posters, this case has morphed beyond being about about Skubal and the Tigers in particular, it's about Boras and the Union wanting the arb scales reset and ownership wanting the status quo system of arbitration escalation 'rules'. And as has been pointed out, the Tigers didn't particularly 'low ball' Skubal, they made an offer than pretty much followed arbitration precedent. For Boras, repping clients that score bigger in arbitration is probably the area of biggest potential income growth for his business if he can get 'market value' established as a significant factor in future arb awards. Skubal, as a player rep, can contribute to something that will benefit a lot more players than the deal he signs next year.

OTOH, to mid market and below teams, a big escalation in arb costs would be the last straw in making them all 2nd class citizens to NY and LA as they will end up having to cut lose a lot of competitive players they would otherwise have kept.

Edited 3 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Hongbit]

I wonder how long they have been sitting on this deal.  It wasn’t coincidence that it was announced shortly after the arbitration hearing ended.   I’m sure it would’ve come up in Skubal’s argument had the Tigers done this prior. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Hongbit

[Sports_Freak]

21 minutes ago, Longgone said:

Some think 32 is between 30 and 40.

I thought he was asking for 19 million?

[Sports_Freak]

Oh....I see...Skubal is asking for 32 million and the Tigers are offering 19 million. Tough call...give it to skubal. 😅

[4hzglory]

12 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Oh....I see...Skubal is asking for 32 million and the Tigers are offering 19 million. Tough call...give it to skubal. 😅

The question the arbitrator's decide is if he is worth more or less than $25,500,000 compared to other arbitration cases which factors in precedence for both previous pitchers ($19.8 is current high) and percentage of raise among other things.  If its $25,500,001, Skubal gets $32 mil. If it's $25,499,999, he gets $19 mil.

[NorthWoods]

44 minutes ago, Longgone said:

Some think 32 is between 30 and 40.

Get that old math out of here.

[oblong]

33 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I wonder how long they have been sitting on this deal.  It wasn’t coincidence that it was announced shortly after the arbitration hearing ended.   I’m sure it would’ve come up in Skubal’s argument had the Tigers done this prior. 

I don't think so. Skubal is not a free agent.  Arbitration doesn't answer the question that Valdez's situation as a free agent asks.

 

[Tigermojo]

Boras getting Pittsburgh involved seemed to move things along for Valdez.

$32 million for Skubal means Boras is looking to break records in November.

[RatkoVarda]

1 minute ago, Tigermojo said:

Boras getting Pittsburgh involved seemed to move things along for Valdez.

$32 million for Skubal means Boras is looking to break records in November.

Boras does not rep Valdez

[4hzglory]

41 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I wonder how long they have been sitting on this deal.  It wasn’t coincidence that it was announced shortly after the arbitration hearing ended.   I’m sure it would’ve come up in Skubal’s argument had the Tigers done this prior. 

I think it's more likely that waiting until now makes it easier to drag along the physical until they can put Jobe on the 60-day DL and free up a roster spot than it has anything to do with the date of the arbitration hearing.

[Tigermojo]

4 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

Boras does not rep Valdez

My bad.  It's Octagon. 

[Sports_Freak]

23 minutes ago, 4hzglory said:

I think it's more likely that waiting until now makes it easier to drag along the physical until they can put Jobe on the 60-day DL and free up a roster spot than it has anything to do with the date of the arbitration hearing.

Is Valdez in the country? In past years, some players were late getting to ST because of visa issues. It would be easy to drag out his signing if he's in the DR. Makes me wonder if the Venezuela players are going to have issues getting their papers...

[RedRamage]

47 minutes ago, 4hzglory said:

The question the arbitrator's decide is if he is worth more or less than $25,500,000 compared to other arbitration cases which factors in precedence for both previous pitchers ($19.8 is current high) and percentage of raise among other things.  If its $25,500,001, Skubal gets $32 mil. If it's $25,499,999, he gets $19 mil.

Which always made me wonder why the Tigers didn't file at the 19.8 they offered or even bump it up to 20 or 21M. That pushes the line upwards and would make it more likely the arbitrator rules for the team. 

As @oblong pointed out, they don't need to file for $1 more than they think they can win at, so maybe they're just really confident the can win at $19M. It's just frustrating to me as a fan that there's this whole huge dynamic behind it in terms of how this will shape negotiations and labor deals and whatever beyond simply a guy I root for and the team I root for.

[Jason_R]

Nobody knows what is happening with the CBA. 

The Tigers demonstrated they are willing to pay a pitcher $38 million a year. But he is not going to get caught with six or eight or ten years of term, at $38 million a year, under a new CBA ten months from now that may totally reset the league's payroll structure. 

I think it is safe to assume that if they were willing to pay Valdez 3/$115 million, they would have paid Skubal that or more. 3/$120? Probably. 4/$155? Possibly. 5/$200? Hmmm... there might be a chance. 10/$400? No, sorry. And I get that. It doesn't mean that Ilitch is cheap because he doesn't want to play by the rules set by the Dodgers and Scott Boras... rules that will change in some way, and maybe in some major way, at the end of the season. 

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Skubal for Sasaki rumors popping up again, mostly on Dodgers sites. That's the one name that intrigues me. Still much unknown. But you get 6 years. I don't think Detroit did enough to win it all with Skubal this year. I don't want to see him go. I'll be angry if he goes. But if Sasaki comes here in return, it would soften the blow for me.

That's how you know when a proposed trade would be completely one-sided: one side is like yeah yeah yeah yeah do it, and the other side is like ummmmmmm ...

[chasfh]

11 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

And while it never crossed my mind about any player but the outcome of the arbitration hearing really affects his value as trade stock. It just seems like if the Tigers win, he would get a bigger return in a trade? 

Probably.

All hypothetical, anyway. Skubal ain't going anywhere, unless the Tigers don't really want to win this year after all.

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, TigerNation said:

The Dodgers wouldn't trade Sasaki for Skubal straight up.

I agree with this. They are already a 100+ win team now. Anything they want to do to add to that total, they'll throw money at it, not players.

[RedRamage]

1 minute ago, chasfh said:

Probably.

All hypothetical, anyway. Skubal ain't going anywhere, unless the Tigers don't really want to win this year after all.

I don't there is any reasonable trade that would make the Tigers better this year... but that still doesn't mean a trade might not be the best option for the team. I'd be okay with them trading Skubal if it's the right deal... Heck, I even wanted a trade before. I just didn't want to see his last year (more or less) wasted in Detroit and then watch him walk away for nothing.

Now with Valdez signed I'm at least a little more hopeful that we can make some waves in 2026 so I'm not quite on the trade him bandwagon.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Oh....I see...Skubal is asking for 32 million and the Tigers are offering 19 million. Tough call...give it to skubal. 😅

I think the Tigers could have tried to settle with Skubal for $30 million and he would not have taken it. The apparent intention was to challenge the arbitration system in advance of CBA talks.

[chasfh]

9 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

I don't there is any reasonable trade that would make the Tigers better this year... but that still doesn't mean a trade might not be the best option for the team. I'd be okay with them trading Skubal if it's the right deal... Heck, I even wanted a trade before. I just didn't want to see his last year (more or less) wasted in Detroit and then watch him walk away for nothing.

Now with Valdez signed I'm at least a little more hopeful that we can make some waves in 2026 so I'm not quite on the trade him bandwagon.

The Tigers are not going to trade themselves out of being clear division favorites now by dumping Skubal just because they're big mad at him and money.

Not talking about you, but I am just knocked out by how bad some people just don't want Skubal on this team anymore.