Tarik Skubal is the best left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, and it isn't particularly close. On the heels of earning 2024 AL Cy Young Award honors, the 28-year-old flamethrower followed suit in 2025 by outdoing himself.
Running up the MLB leaderboards in ERA (2.21), WHIP (0.891), BB/9 (1.5), ERA+ (187), and just about every sabermetric thinkable, Skubal is suddenly on the table for trade talks. He is arbitration eligible in 2026, and he can test free agency in 2027, making him the perfect trade candidate this offseason.
Skubal is going to cost the Detroit Tigers one pretty penny for him to stay put, but the writing is on the wall that they will be unable to afford him.