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Skubal asked for $32M?!? Tigers offered $19M, which might be light but $32?!? He will be 30 for next year and probably get 7/$280 at least.
Something tells me that Skubal is not going to start the year in Detroit, especially if he wins that arbitration hearing. The Dodgers or Yankees will be glad to take him off of the Tigers hands for one year and $32M.
Boras is Skubal’s agent so it doesn’t surprise me. With some of the language in the arb 3 descriptions, it says that players can compare themselves to free agents as well not just the history of their arb year. As a free agent, Skubal probably gets $40 million a year if I had to guess. I believe Boras isn’t just going after this for Skubal, but future pitcher arb cases as well.
If Skubal wins, the person I see most impacting down the road would be Skenes. He has a RoY with a 3rd place Cy Young finish and then a Cy Young win with a good chance of winning another this year. He will probably set records for pitcher arb years and if Skubal’s arb 3 wins, Skenes is easily looking at $32 million plus as well
This is PRE-arbitration, but this thread seems the best place to put this.
My FREE take on potential future impacts of SS Masyn Winn's 2026 contract being renewed by the #stlcards. https://t.co/l8V2qTgDLZ pic.twitter.com/nfeU3N2WBp
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) March 11, 2026
Thanks for the article Brian. I think Winn is the best player on the team pre 2026, but expect Wetherholt to be on his heels by seasons end. I see all his value on defense at the present time, and that doesn’t warrant a lucrative extension. I would be surprised if the Cardinals enter those waters until the cba is settled. Getting renewed is the business side of the game. The best thing for Winn is to accept the details of his 2026 salary and improve his offense if he wants to be in a better position when his arb years kick in, or be offered an extension if that’s what he wants.
Well said KCB. 2026 is his last pre-arb season and an opportunity to seperate himself from “glove first”. More money is coming but how much depends on those hitting stats. If he’s a top of the order guy now, he should see good pitches.
Tommy Pham, Jack Flaherty and Jordan Hicks
Another common thread is that, as things have turned out for all three, the team has no reason to regret not offering an acceptable multi year contract. While a one season decay in offensive value may not establish a trend in that direction, Winn must turn it around this year to avoid looking a lot like the DeJong collapse. No one knows what will happen. I don’t blame Winn for trying to get some insurance against it, nor do I fault the team for declining to shift the risk to themselves.
PDJ had a hot start but also debuted as an older player. Winn is currently more of a younger Kolten Wong type bat, hoping to get to PDJ’s .800 ops that he logged in his first two seasons.
I read an article where Masyn said he intends to use the whole field more this season.
And than there’s this. We have a bunch of other players coming up who will be worthy of extensions pre arb. We can only pay so many of them. We have to choose the right ones if our new system is to work properly. That includes plugging in a few free agents. Evaluation is everything. I like Winn. I enjoy his enthusiasm. He’s a gold glove ss. But until he puts up some offensive numbers, he’s not a guy I use my long term financial resources on.
This has piqued Wetherholt’s interest. He’d rather play his natural position. I wonder what the catch would be for Winn?
A lot to unpack here. Yes it is reminiscent of Flaherty but Jack seemed to revel in being rebellious. Not sure if Winn falls into that category or not. We shall see. Also, it should be noted that Bloom seemed to go out of his way to settle all of our arb cases this year without a trial so that tells me that confrontation is not always his first choice, which I think is a good sign.
The upcoming CBA is going to have a lot of major issues hashed out. I think raising the league minimum will be one of the least contentious items. The owners will gladly do that if it leads to a salary cap.
My preference would be to see Winn, Wetherholt, Burleson, and Herrera all signed long term before the start of the 2027 season. I view them as our core, along with maybe Libby but I am more cautious about pitchers.
I don’t mind signing any of those guys GScott lists long term if it’s an equitable deal. But I’m not ready to buy any of them out for big money extensions. Superstar money. None of them have earned that. I suspect Wetherholt will-but if you were to do it now it’s a gamble.
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