After haggling with the Detroit Tigers ownership, Tarik Skubal was granted the largest salary through arbitration ever.
The long wait is finally over!
According to sources close to ESPN on Thursday, Detroit Tigers ace hurler won his salary arbitration case, giving him a $13 million raise over the franchise’s proposed figures and setting the record for the largest salary ever awarded through arbitration at $32 million in 2026.
That number surpasses the previous record set by outfielder Juan Soto, who settled with the New York Yankees at $31 million in 2024. The two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, who also represented Soto in his case.
The decision also sets two arbitration records for pitchers. Skubal became the highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher by leapfrogging David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015; he received the largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher by surpassing Jacob deGrom, who saw his salary surge from $7.4 million to $17 million — an increase of $9.6 million — with the New York Mets in 2019.
All in all, Skubal received a $21.85 million raise from $10.15 million in 2025 to $32 million in 2026 — a meteoric 215.3% increase in pay.
Skubal will now earn the sixth-highest base salary among MLB pitchers this season, with Zack Wheeler ($42 million, Philadelphia Phillies), Framber Valdez ($38 million, Tigers), Jacob DeGrom ($38 million, Texas Rangers), Gerrit Cole ($36 million, Yankees) and Tyler Glasnow ($32.5 million, Los Angeles Dodgers) ahead of him.
Category: General Sports
