The Detroit Tigers can posture all they want about precedent, file-and-trial discipline, and the sanctity of the arbitration system. But as the 1 PM EST arbitration deadline ticks closer, the reality is simple.
The Tigers have no real choice here. They need to do right by Tarik Skubal.
Not because it’s warm and fuzzy. Not because it’s sentimental. But because everything about Skubal’s situation screams for a solution that avoids a hearing — and because failing to do so would be penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior from a franchise that cannot afford another self-inflicted credibility wound.