Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal has revealed his future with the club in recent conversations he has had with friends.
Skubal was drafted in the ninth round by the Tigers in the 2018 MLB Draft. Now 29 years old, he has spent his entire seven-year MLB career with Detroit, becoming one of the best — if not the best — pitchers in the league during that time.
He has won the last two American League Cy Young awards, and this year, he has been solid once again despite dealing with injuries.
With Skubal in the final year of his contract with Detroit before hitting free agency this offseason, where he is expected to command the biggest free-agent pitching contract of all time, there have been some suggestions that the Tigers may look to trade him.
But Skubal does not want to go anywhere.
Tarik Skubal Doesn’t Want to Be Traded
According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, Skubal doesn’t want to go anywhere this season, as he’s told his friends he wants to stay in Detroit. He believes in the team, and he hopes he can stay with them this season, as he thinks they have a realistic shot at winning the World Series this year.
“Skubal has informed friends that he badly wants to stay in Detroit the rest of the season, believing they have a legitimate shot at the World Series, and has zero appetite to be traded. ‘I’ve never lost faith,’ Skubal says,” wrote Nightengale for USA Today.
Detroit Has Been Hot
Although the Tigers started the season poorly, the team has really turned things around in recent weeks and is back in the mix for a playoff berth this season.
The Tigers are currently in fourth place in the American League Central, but they are just 5.5 GB of the division-leading Chicago White Sox. While Chicago has had a surprisingly strong start to this season, the team could very well regress back to the mean in the second half of the year, and Detroit could catch them in the standings.
The Cleveland Guardians are right there in the AL Central division race, and the Minnesota Twins aren’t far behind, but again, the Tigers could easily catch both of these teams if they continue to win more games than they lose the rest of the season.
Truthfully, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the AL Central winner won about 85 games this year, as it is one of the weakest divisions in baseball.
The Tigers could also get into the playoff picture through an AL Wild Card berth, as the team is currently just 2.5 GB from the third and final Wild Card spot.
While the team has not lived up to the hype this season after they were expected to win the division in pre-season predictions, they are still in the mix and have a chance to make the playoffs. If they can sneak in, then they will have a chance to make a run, and that’s why Skubal wants to stay in Detroit this season.
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