PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There is a lot of conversation about Detroit pitcher Tarik Skubal winning his arbitration hearing Thursday afternoon. He was awarded $32 million on Thursday afternoon. It’s roughly $12 million more than the Tigers wanted to pay the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
No one has ever been granted more money than the $32 million Skubal received. The numbers 18-4, 2.39 ERA, 228 strikeouts, 192 innings, 0.92 WHIP in 2024 and 13-6, 2.21 ERA, 241 strikeouts, 195.1 innings, 0.89 WHIP in 2025.
This is only slightly more than the previous high, Juan Soto $31 million in 2024, Shohei Ohtani $30 million in 2023 and Vladimir Guerrero $28.5 million in 2025. All of those players were in the final year of team control or their last year of arbitration.
The immediate thought is how this potentially affects Paul Skenes.
The Pirates right-hander was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2024 going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA with 170 strikeouts in 133 innings with a 0.94 WHIP. Last year the 23-year-old won the NL Cy Young Award, 10-10, 1.97 ERA with 217 strikeouts in 187.2 innings with a 0.94 WHIP.
Skenes is entering his first year of being arbitration eligible, which will happen after the 2026 season and will serve as his salary for 2027. The highest ever one-year salary for a player in their first year of arbitration is Cody Bellinger $11.5 million in 2020.
Players are eligible for arbitration for three years before they become a free agent. There are a few exceptions where players could be arbitration eligible for four seasons, but for Skenes it’s three. The system is set up where players can earn more money each season with a dramatic increase in the final year.
Major League Baseball is entering its final year of its collective bargaining agreement with the players, so all of this could change under a new CBA.
In regards to Skenes, he likely would set a new first-year record next year beating Bellinger’s $11.5 million, but the worry about it being $30 million a season is still a couple of years away, under the current rules.