Tarik Skubal's World Baseball Classic story pretty much confirmed Scott Boras' influence

The biggest controversy of the World Baseball Classic for Team USA surrounded Tarik Skubal and his decision to just pitch in one game. That decision may be scrutinized even more after Team USA lost to Team Venezuela in the final, but it seems very clear that it was not Skubal's decision.

Skubal said that he drove through a rainstorm to get to Miami and be in the dugout with Team USA. Maybe part of that is guilt over his decision to just pitch in one game, but it seems clear that he wanted to be all in for the event. His agent Scott Boras obviously had another opinion on the matter.

The left-handed ace is entering his contract year and Boras does not want his client to do anything to risk the $400 million, or maybe even bigger, payday that could be in store for him. That payday is almost certainly not going to come with the Tigers, but Boras is not going to jeopardize it.

If one reads between the lines, it seems like Skubal wanted to compete in the event and make two starts like the other pitchers on the team. Yet, Boras probably relented and allowed Skubal to pitch but on the condition that he only make one start.

Scott Boras deserves most of the blame for Tarik Skubal's WBC decision

It's just a messy situation and Skubal has not done himself a ton of PR favors even though other pitchers in the competition have taken a similar approach to him and have not faced anywhere near the same level of scrutiny.

Skubal has endorsed an idea that would move the second half of the WBC to the All-Star break which would allow more pitchers to participate and would allay a lot of the concerns about pitch counts and pitchers getting injured, so maybe the next time Skubal will pitch more than once.

But the competition is over now and everyone has to move on. Tigers fans do not care about how many times Skubal pitched for the red, white, and blue; they just care about him delivering another dominant year for the Tigers.

Detroit is a team that has to be taken seriously in the American League. The Tigers have a great potching staff and have been trending in the right direction the last two seasons. What better swan song for Skubal's likely final season with the Tigers than delivering a World Series and ultimately washing away any bad blood about his World Baseball Classic decision.