Im happy with getting him. But my concerns still are with the bats
Why did the Tigers even do the arbitration thing anyways? Did they have to it?
It feels like they were going to pay him all along.
Yes.
MLB players have so many years of āarbitrationā before they are eligible to hit free agency. Skubal has been subject to arbitration for years before this, but I canāt remember if we settled with him beforehand in years past. However, I do know that it hasnāt ever been this big of a story, because this time they went to arbitration over the biggest salary difference in MLB history.
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On the bright sideā¦ if the pitching staff stays relatively healthyā¦
there is plenty of ammo available to make a trade for a bat if another team finds themselves short on quality starting pitching.
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Iāll admit I was shocked almost to the point I thought I was going to die. Turns out I just had Covid
I like this deal.
Tigers:
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Good movie
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Boston #2
Phillies #3
Royals in the top ten
Now that the Tigers have added free-agent left-hander Framber Valdez to pair with Tarik Skubal at the top of their rotation, do they have the best 1-2 starting pitcher punch in baseball?
MLB.comās Jared Greenspan compiled a list of the top 10 1-2 pairings (with three additional dark horses), and using the combined fWAR of 9.9 ā Skubal 6.3 and Valdez 3.6 ā made the Tigers No. 1.
āDetroit was always going to be near the top of this list, because Skubal is just that good,ā Greenspan writes. āThe two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner led all pitchers with 6.6 WAR last season, and he was even better in '25 than he was in '24: He posted a lower ERA and a lower FIP, while increasing his strikeout rate. But the addition of Valdez is really the story here. Since 2022, only four pitchers have tallied more WAR than Valdez. In that four-year span, heās pitched the second-most innings and posted a top-20 ERA (3.21) and FIP (3.29), relying on a heavy sinker that keeps the ball on the ground. This duo is as battle-tested as any 1-2 punch out there: Valdez brings plenty of postseason pedigree thanks to 16 career playoff starts.ā
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The Tigersā projected over-under before the Valdez news was widely regarded as around 83.5 wins. Depending on the sportsbook, that number surged to 85.5 or 86.5 after news of the Valdez deal.
Thatās big movement based off one player.
āIt is a pretty significant spike so close to the season starting,ā said Johnny Avello, head oddsmaker for DraftKings, which now has the Tigersā over-under at 85.5 wins for 2026. "Our group is trained to look for any new developments in any sports, and if somebody getting a player that can make an impact, the question is how much of an impact can they make. Thatās for us to equate.
āIs it 2Ā½ games, 3Ā½ games, no games? ā¦ For us, it was definitely worth a couple games.ā
All of the Tigersā odds were altered favorably by the news of Valdez.
According to BetOnline.ag, their World Series odds went to 25-1 from 28-1, while the American League pennant odds went to 10-1 from 12-1. Theyāre now +125 to win the AL Central, from +160, and theyāre -190 to make the playoffs, from -165. Like DraftKings, BetOnline.ag also has the Tigersā over-under at 85.5 wins.
The over-under movement is good news for those betters who already had laid cash on the Tigers 83.5 over.
This is such an interesting year for the Tigers. Like they got Skubs for one more year. They have Valdez. The time is definitely NOW IMO because of the Skubs contract situation. They have two top 10 BA prospects. Not top 100. Top TEN. And Mcgonigle is Top 2. I saw an interview with a BA editor and he was like historically a prospect ranked top 2 on their list ends up a really really good player. I think heāll start the year on the MLB roster. Then Max Clark is like 8th. And I think heāll be in Detroit by the All Star game after a stint in Toledo. So its like the stars arenāt quite aligned for this team. Help is on the way but then if we lose Skubsā¦
This could be a one year windowā¦
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I wonder when theyāre going to make the signing official? I know it took a minute after the Kenley Jansen signing was āannouncedā to make it official.
This HAS to be an all in year for them, itās as close as Iāve seen since the 2014 season when they traded for Price. I do think they add someone at the deadline if their hitting is an issue. But it makes sense to see what you have beforehand.
Has he done is physical yet?
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Plus they cant make Him sign. Skubal is player organization president. Him and boras wanted this to go to arbitration. They are trying to make a point before the lockout and this is part of that.
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There have also been articles and discussions that the Labor Relations Board played a part in how the Tigers handled this.
As one guy on MLB Sirius said Harris doesnāt have the experience or longevity as a DD does to fight against the leagueās LRB. The point being that this whole Skubal arbitration was step one in the upcoming labor battle.
The league and players association were heavily invested in how this one was handled by both sides.
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