Mets A Top Landing Spot For Tarik Skubal

There will soon be a white whale swimming in MLB's free-agent waters and its name is Tarik Skubal.

After going 64-42 over his first six-and-a-half seasons in the majors with the Detroit Tigers while winning back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards in 2024 and 2025, Skubal was the big catch in August's trade-deadline derby, with the Los Angeles Dodgers' reeling him in for a package of minor-leaguers that included two who were ranked among the game's Top 100 prospects.

Of course, the Tigers were only willing to part with Skubal because he was due to become a free agent at the end of the 2026 season and they feared their hopes of resigning him were minuscule.

Well, now the Dodgers' season is over and Skubal is set to hit the open market where he will easily be the most-coveted player available, whether pitcher or hitter.

With that in mind, the New York Mets' should be holed away counting their pennies, dusting the furniture and preparing an attractive offer for Skubal, one that would put lipstick on the 74-88 last-place pig that was their mess of a 2026 season.

Here are three reasons why the Mets should pursue Skubal:

1. It's Tarik Freakin' Skubal!

You can look at his 12-7 record split between Detroit and LA in 2026 and maybe say, "Meh." But the underlying fact is that the Tigers underperformed this year and left Skubal hanging too often, which can help explain his 7-5 mark in Motown before the trade despite a 2.79 ERA and his rate of 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, the second-best of his career.

He followed that by going 5-2 with the Dodgers with a 2.61 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 rate. In playoff starts against the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers, Skubal was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and an 11.5 K/9 rate.

Add it all up and Skubal was a 4-6-WAR pitcher this season, the third-best of his career behind his two Cy Young seasons. That's a pitcher who can help anyone.

2. The Mets' rotation is promising but still young.

Young Mets' starters Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton and Christian Scott - all 27 or younger - combined for 21 wins in 2026 while eating up 374 rotation innings.

McLean himself was 12-10 with a team-best 3.16 ERA in 179.2 innings, a performance that earned him a spot on MLB.com's All-Rookie teams, while he also garnered a nomination for a 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award for his fielding exploits on the mound.

In addition, the Mets have a couple young starters in the minors - Jonah Tong and Jonathan Santucci - who could become big-league presences as early as next season.

Sounds like the perfect pitching petri dish to add a proven catalyst like Skubal to.

3. The Mets - and owner Steve Cohen - need to save face.

Since Cohen took the Mets' reins before the 2021 season, they have gone 499-473 (52.4% winning percentage), with three winning and three losing season. And the good feelings of 2022's 101-61 playoff team are receding farther into the rear-view mirror with each passing day, especially after the combined 157-167 record of 2025-26.

Cohen is also not afraid to take a big swing or crack open his checkbook. Witness the 15-year, $765-million contract he used to entice four-time All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to come to Queens in 2025, or the annual payrolls that have not been below $322 million since 2022 and topped out at a record $354.7 million in 2026.

Of course, no matter how many truckloads of cash Cohen unloads in Skubal's driveway, the pitcher will still need to be wooed and convinced that New York is the place to be, despite the recent dysfunction. That firmly puts the free-agent ball in Cohen and the Mets' court.