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Tigers learned a harsh lesson from Dylan Cease signing big contract with Blue Jays

You can't win cheap anymore.
Emma Lingan
Emma Lingan

Motor City Bengals

Wild Card Series - San Diego Padres v Chicago Cubs - Game Two / Michael Reaves/GettyImages

When Dylan Cease landed a massive seven-year, $210 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week, it wasn’t just a free-agent splash. In Detroit, it sounded like a warning siren.

Because every Tigers fan knew what came next: If that's what Cease costs … then what in the world does Tarik Skubal cost?

For years, Tigers fans lived comfortably in hope that Skubal would be extended, that Detroit would lock down a true ace, and that a hometown Cy Young arm would be theirs for life. Then, Cease walked into free agency and walked out with $210 million –– and suddenly, Skubal's extension feels less like a contract negotiation and more like a hostage situation.

If Cease is worth $210 million, then Skubal's $400 million projection sounds ... very right. That means the Tigers can't be abnking on any sort of discount. This is a $350 million or more expenditure, and there's no changing that.

Dylan Cease contract traps Tigers from both sides in Tarik Skubal extension talks

This is where it gets brutal. Because the Tigers didn’t just learn that Skubal is more expensive than they realized — they learned everything else is, too.

Want to upgrade the rotation without trading Skubal? Welcome to the same free-agent market where $210 million is the new hello. Want to trade for a frontline starter instead? Congrats, and get ready to sell your soul to the devil.

The Tigers are between a rock and a hard place. Pay Skubal record money, and they risk massive payroll commitment. Try to replace him externally, and they pay Cease prices for Cease-level (or worse) pitchers. There is no bargain lane anymore –– only pain.

Detroit finally did the hard part in developing an ace. Now comes the even harder part — paying him like one. Cease's deal just lit the fuse on what was already shaping up to be a massive financial crisis.

Detroit fans are tired of being patient. Tired of being “close.” Tired of hearing about payroll “down the road.” That road is here, and if the Tigers are serious about winning, then this is the moment to prove it.

The Skubal era is now –– and thanks to Cease, it just became incredibly expensive to prove it. The Tigers now face a choice: pay Skubal like the ace he is, or admit that this rebuild was never meant to finish.

Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.