Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers failed to agree on a contract for the 2026 season before Thursday's 8 p.m. ET deadline to avoid arbitration, the team announced.
Skubal, the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner, and the Tigers settled on a $10.15 million contract last year to avoid a hearing. The left-hander is slated to reach free agency after the 2026 season.
Players with more than three years of major league service time can use the arbitration process to negotiate their salaries for the upcoming season with clubs. If the two sides don't come to terms on a deal by the deadline, they swap numbers that they take into an arbitration hearing.
Players and teams can come to a deal after Thursday's deadline to avoid a hearing, in which a three-person panel listens to both sides and chooses a winner. But the Tigers have historically been a "file-and-trial" team, meaning they operate with 8 p.m. as a hard deadline and go to a hearing if a deal isn't in place by then.
Skubal, 29, will receive a hefty raise either way after recording a 2.21 ERA with 241 strikeouts in 195 innings across 31 starts as the ace for a club that reached the postseason for the second consecutive year.
On the other end, the Seattle Mariners and outfielder Randy Arozarena agreed to a $15.65 million salary in his final year of arbitration, the highest number for a settlement in baseball this year. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson settled at $8.5 million, setting the franchise record for a player in his first year of arbitration.
Other players who finalized deals Thursday include:
Cincinnati Reds right-hander Brady Singer ($12.75 million)
Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward ($12.175 million)
Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo ($11 million)
Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho ($10.75 million)
Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm ($10.2 million)
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($10.2 million)
Yankees closer David Bednar ($9 million)
New York Mets left-hander David Peterson ($8.1 million)
Yankees reliever Camilo Doval ($6.1 million)
