The New York Mets might have just gotten some good news, even as they recover from a major disappointment.
The team failed to make the playoffs despite raising expectations with the signing of Juan Soto, but now the door could be wide open for another blockbuster roster addition.
As the Mets search for a frontline starter to bolster their struggling rotation next year, it’s been revealed that the Detroit Tigers are facing an even larger contract gap than expected with their ace Tarik Skubal.
“The immense gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal, reported here first, is even bigger than first believed,” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman disclosed on Wednesday. “The Tigers’ offer a year ago to Skubal was below $80 million. It was only reported here originally to be less than the $170M the (Boston) Red Sox signed Garrett Crochet for, and it turns out to be less than half.”
Skubal suddenly seemed to be a trade candidate when Heyman first reported that the Tigers were lowballing him. But the news that they valued him at $110 million less than Crochet could push the Mets to pursue him more aggressively.
Following the update, speculation has risen that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns could be preparing to swoop in with a trade package for the Tigers and a more reasonable long-term extension offer for Skubal.
“David Stearns and the Mets are in the market for pitching, more specifically, a top-of-the-line arm,” John Flanigan wrote for SNY following Heyman’s update. “Skubal would certainly be just that, coming off his second consecutive superb campaign in which he pitched to a 2.21 ERA and 0.89 WHIP while striking out 241 batters across 31 outings.”
Skubal would be a great fit for the Mets, as he would be for virtually every contending team. So if Stearns does want to take advantage of the Tigers’ lowball, he’ll have to be willing to give up a significant trade package to secure the ace.
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