Ace left-hander Tarik Skubal watched his Dodgers get eliminated in the NLCS from the dugout in Game 4 on Thursday night. Now, Skubal’s next stop is free agency this coming offseason. He will be the top free agent on the market and command an absurd amount of money before signing on the dotted line.
Unsurprisingly, Skubal didn’t have much to say on the matter after Game 4.
“I’m not going to comment on my future really at all,” he said, via MLB.com. “Today sucks, you know, and that’s kind of where my head’s at.”
Skubal heads to free agency having made the playoffs for three straight years and posted a 2.13 ERA in eight playoff starts, but his teams have been unable to make the World Series. In fact, the trip to the NLCS this year with the Dodgers was the deepest he’s ever been in the playoffs. The Tigers made the ALDS in both 2024 and 2025 before being eliminated.
The 29-year-old Skubal was the American League Cy Young winner in both 2024 and 2025. This season, he suffered an injury to his pitching elbow that required surgery, a new procedure called NanoScope surgery. He healed remarkably quickly, only missing starts between April 29 and June 13.
Nine starts later and the Tigers — despite only being 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot — decided to get in front of missing the postseason and losing Skubal to free agency. They traded him to the Dodgers at the deadline for a package that included top prospect Zyhir Hope.
Between the two teams this season, Skubal made 26 starts and went 12-7 with a 2.72 ERA (155 ERA+), 0.96 WHIP and 186 strikeouts in 158 ⅔ innings. His 4.6 WAR was down from 6.7 and 6.4, respectively, in the previous two seasons, but he made five fewer starts.
Normally, a pitcher like Skubal hitting free agency would mean bidding into the mid-nine-figure range, but there’s uncertainty this time around with the CBA expiring and the ownership side driving hard toward a salary cap. It’s possible that Skubal’s contract needs to wait until after a deal is made between the two sides and teams know what they have to work with in their finances. Conversely, a team could be incredibly aggressive in trying to get his deal grandfathered under the previous CBA. Time will tell.
For now, Skubal and the rest of the Dodgers head home for the winter.
