Tarik Skubal knows stakes for Tigers: Time to step up, "or it all comes to an abrupt end"

Tarik Skubal knows the clock is ticking -- on the 2026 Tigers and quite possibly on his time in Detroit.

"The future for a lot of people in this room, not just myself, the outlook could look very much different in two months and it all comes to an abrupt end," Skubal said this week, via the Detroit News.

When Skubal takes the mound Friday night at Comerica Park against the White Sox, the Tigers will be staring up at a 9.5-game deficit in the AL Central and a 6.5 game deficit in the wild card race with seven teams to jump. The trade deadline looms August 3, but Scott Harris and the Tigers may have to decide even sooner whether to sell or to give this team a shot after investing in it heavily this winter.

Skubal is the biggest of several pending free agents who could be dealt, along with second baseman Gleyber Torres and former first overall pick Casey Mize -- both of whom were All-Stars last season -- and MLB's active saves leader Kenley Jansen.

"The reality of the situation is, we need to play better baseball,” Skubal said. “I’ve said that before and I’ll continue to say that. My belief in this group has never changed. But the reality is we need to play better baseball or else come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is.

"And if they don’t think what we have is a World Series- or playoff-caliber team, then the whole team is going to look different. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Skubal will be the hottest commodity at the deadline if the Tigers put him on the block; Harris has already received lots of reported interest in the two-time defending AL Cy Young winner, who recently returned from a minor elbow procedure that cost him about six weeks.

With Skubal eyeing a record-setting contract in free agency and the Tigers seemingly unwilling to meet his price, it would behoove the team to cash him in for assets while they still can.

That's the most likely scenario. The most hopeful one for the Tigers is that they claw their way back into the race over the next several weeks and earn the right to chase a playoff spot with a roster that was widely considered one of the best in the AL entering the season.

Injuries and underperformance have led to their current predicament, but it's not too late to make a push -- starting with a 10-game homestand that kicks off Friday night against the division-leading White Sox.

The ball will be in Skubal's hand. How much longer it's in the hands of the players remains to be seen.

“We still control our destiny a little bit,” Skubal said. "We still do. We play the team this weekend that’s winning our division. It’s another big series. You don’t want to be playing playoff baseball in June, but it feels like we’re playing playoff baseball. We don’t have very much room for error and everyone understands that.

"Everyone understands there has to be a sense of urgency. There has to be. Not panic. But there has to be a sense of urgency to try to win every game we play."