Tigers could end Tarik Skubal speculation with this offer Scott Boras can't deny

Speculation about a Tarik Skubal trade is sort of dying down, thanks to a couple of prominent insiders loudly refuting the idea. Jeff Passan wrote that "industry expectation" is that the Tigers keep Skubal this offseason, and Bob Nightengale added that they would have to be "completely overwhelmed" to trade him.

Fans will still have to worry about him leaving at the trade deadline (and then again next offseason), but if he is going to be on the 2026 Opening Day roster, they should be doing everything in their power to close a reported massive gap in contract talks right now.

The number floating around right now is $400 million, which would make him by far the highest-paid pitcher in major league history, but perhaps the Tigers can still sway him without going quite that far.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto currently holds the most lucrative contract for a pitcher at $325 million. The Tigers are definitely going to have to go over that to satisfy Skubal and agent Scott Boras on an extension, but maybe, if we can count on a little bit of a hometown discount, $340 million could get the job done.

$340 million contract extension offer to Tarik Skubal could get him to stay with the Tigers

Passan has been one of the loudest advocates for Skubal to stay in Detroit. He said on the Rich Eisen Show last week, "Not only would the Tigers like to re-sign Tarik Skubal, Tarik Skubal would like to stay in Detroit."

Of course, Skubal would also like to be offered a contract that is actually representative of his value, especially after he just became a two-time Cy Young winner. Offering him the richest contract of any pitcher ever, even if it's not $400 million, should be aggressive enough. If he truly wants to stay, then that display of appreciation should suffice.

He could still get $400 million from the likes of the Dodgers or Mets in free agency, but if he wants to stay in Detroit, could make $340 million, and avoid the messiness of a free agent market that might not even get him to that $400 million mark, would he really say no?

It would still be astronomical and unprecedented for the Tigers to give that much money, but anything less than Yamamoto's just isn't going to get a deal done, and the front office must know that. It's not now-or-never yet, but the clock is just going to keep ticking down and it'll be the Tigers, not Skubal, who will have to blink first.