Report: Mets Would Be Interested in Tarik Skubal Trade Amidst Contract Stalemate

For the second offseason in a row, it appears one of the game’s top left-handed starting pitchers could be traded.

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is heading into his final year of arbitration with the Detroit Tigers, and it doesn’t seem as though the two sides are even remotely close to being on the same page when it comes to extension talks. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman made that evident by reporting the gap in negotiations is currently in the ballpark of $250 million, making common ground that much harder to reach.

“The Tigers and superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal have a lot of work to do if they’re going to bridge quite possibly the biggest gap in MLB negotiating history: an estimated quarter of a billion dollars,” Heyman wrote.

Heyman went on to note that Detroit’s most recent offer to Skubal was for less money than what Garrett Crochet received in his deal with the Boston Red Sox, which is worth $170 million over six years, after being traded to them last offseason from the Chicago White Sox.

The Mets were among the clubs who engaged in talks with the White Sox for Crochet, though they seemingly weren’t comfortable with the price and ultimately were outbid by the Red Sox, who built a package around former first-round picks Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery.

New York opted not to make a big addition to its rotation last offseason, though the organization could change its tone on that front this time around. Though the club has a number of intriguing young arms coming up the pipeline and should be thrilled by how Nolan McLean performed in his first taste of action at the big-league level, there’s still too many question marks lingering with the group as a whole.

During SNY’s “Baseball Night in New York”, Newsday’s David Lennon shared that he’s of the belief that Skubal will definitely be available this offseason as Detroit looks to capitalize on his value heading into a contract year.

“He’s clearly going to be on the market now,” Lennon said. “Initially I thought the Tigers would hold on to him to try to run it back … but if the money is this far apart at this point, you’re just going to throw up your hands and say, ‘listen, we’re going to move him and get whatever we can for him.”

SNY’s Andy Martino also stated that the Mets will almost certainly be among the clubs who initiate talks with the Tigers in hopes of landing Skubal, who would completely transform the look and feel of their rotation in 2026 and perhaps beyond.

“If teams are talking to the Tigers about trading for Tarik Skubal, the Mets will be one of those teams, and the Mets will be aggressive,” he said.

In terms of the price New York would be willing to pay, Martino thinks just about anyone but McLean would be fair game.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they would trade anyone but Nolan McLean,” he said. “Anyone else to get Tarik Skubal for one year and then have the chance to sign him, the Mets would be in on that I think.”

Skubal appears ticketed for a second-consecutive American League Cy Young Award after posting a 2.21 ERA with 241 strikeouts over 31 starts and 195 1/3 innings for the Tigers this season. During the playoffs, he logged a 1.74 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 20 2/3 frames before Detroit bowed out in Game Five of the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners.

The Mets would likely attempt to hammer out an extension with Skubal should they land him, especially considering there’s some uneasiness about the potential of a lockout in 2027 and what the outcome of that whole debacle could turn out to be. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto currently owns the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history at 12 years and $325 million, which Skubal would be in good shape to surpass.

There’s still a ways to go with this entire process, and it’s all conjecture at this point, but the Mets would profile as one of the more logical destinations for Skubal on the trade market should he come available.

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