Tigers may have unique opportunity to keep Tarik Skubal if free agent market crumbles

The Detroit Tigers solved one big flaw, fixing their bullpen by bringing back Kyle Finnegan and signing Kenley Jansen to lock down the ninth. That's the good. However, fans are still waiting for the conservative, Scott Harris-led front office to pursue a big bat.

Whether or not they do so, or simply hope that one of their prized prospects can make the leap and add another dimension of dynamicism to a good-but-not-great lineup, remains to be seen. But the way things are playing out, they might find that making a big splash is too attractive to pass up.

Should that happen, it could go a long way towards solving the biggest crisis the club faces: finding a way to keep Tarik Skubal in Detroit beyond 2026.

A softer-than-anticipated free-agent market could give Tigers opportunity to convince Tarik Skubal to stick around

We've seen Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso come off the board so far, but that was all the way back at the Winter Meetings, and it has been crickets for the top free-agent hitters since.

The longer we wait for the next domino to fall, the more likely it is that the pendulum of leverage shifts from the players to the teams that are pursuing their services.

Despite signing when expected at the Winter Meetings, Pete Alonso found that his market wasn't going to reach the seven-plus years that he dreamed of, and that could also become the reality for the likes of Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, and Alex Bregman as the winter marches on.

All three of those players would be fits for Detroit, with third base still unsolved after the complicated dance the Tigers performed with Bregman last offseason, and Bellinger or Tucker taking the outfield to another level.

It might be easy to say throw caution to the wind and just pay up and meet one of these guys' asking prices, but the more money Detroit locks itself into long-term, the fewer funds there will be to retain Skubal after next season, which should be the ultimate goal.

But if the Tigers were to land one of this talented trio at a discount, such as a short-term, high-AAV deal with an opt-out, it would be a boon for 2026, but could also serve to show Skubal that, while he's their priority, they're also serious about building a winner around him.

It might not be likely, but there might be some common ground to be found between a steal for the club and a windfall for the player even more so now than in the past.

The current crop of free agents has to face something that the stars of recent years haven't, and that's the impending battle over the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that threatens a labor stoppage in 2027.

Many factors here are creating uncertainty for this group of veterans looking to cash in, ranging from what a lockout would do to teams' desire to pay a premium, to ambiguity towards what mechanisms to increase parity may be put in place. That includes a potential salary cap and an end to contract deferrals, hold for the way clubs build their rosters in the future.

That confluence of factors could allow Detroit to land one of these fish below the anticipated market, and without the ability to immediately opt out after 2026, putting forth a good faith effort to convince Skubal that the Motor City is the best place for him to win a ring. It might not be the most likely scenario, but it is possible, and if it does come to fruition, the Tigers will come out smelling like roses.