Ken Rosenthal absolutely roasts Tigers for handling of Tarik Skubal arbitration process

Probably the biggest offseason talking point for Detroit Tigers fans has surrounded left-handed ace Tarik Skubal who just won his arbitration hearing and will make $32 million next season. Detroit's handling of the situation drew some heavy criticism from one of the top MLB reporters around in Ken Rosenthal.

In a recent column for The Athletic, Rosenthal absolutely roasted the Tigers for the way they dealt with Skubal. One line from his piece really sums it all up:

"Pick a fight with your biggest star, roll the dice against one of the best pitchers in the game, and you get what you deserve."

Ken Rosenthal lets Tigers hear it after mishandling of Skubal arbitration

The Tigers certainly come out of the debacle with egg on their face. Skubal won the case and there is really no argument that he shouldn't make $32 million in 2026 since he is coming off winning two straight Cy Young awards and is one of the best pitchers in the game.

The fact that Framber Valdez was signed to a higher salary by the Tigers is laughable. Valdez is a fine pitcher, but he is nowhere near Skubal in terms of talent.

The Tigers just come out of this episode looking cheap and like they slighted their best player. Now questions about whether Skubal will be traded are going to persist, but with how solid the Tigers seem to be on paper a departure in free agency seems much more likely.

Looking at the rotation, the Tigers have one of the strongest one-two punches in the game with Skubal and Valdez. As long as the team is still somewhat in the hunt at the trade deadline, they are going to have to hold onto both players because they could be an absolute nightmare to deal with in a playoff series.

The Valdez move certainly seems to be a nice bit of insurance with Skubal likely to depart in free agency, though. At least for one season Detroit will have an ace in Valdez before he can opt out of his contract and hit the market again if he so chooses.

Ultimately, the whole Skubal episode does not reflect all that well on the Tigers. The organization and president of baseball operations Scott Harris have both taken their fair share of heat and Rosenthal's denunciation just speaks to how other people around the game, including prospective free agents, may feel about the Tigers going forward.