I have no idea what to think anymore, and at this point, I’m not sure if the organization does either. I saw an interview with Cody Stavenhagen last week where he said it would be advantageous to the Tigers if they picked a lane regarding the Tarik Skubal situation. I couldn’t agree more. Scott Harris likes to keep things close to the chest, and I do think he’s aware of the importance of this situation. What’s going on with Tarik is the kind of thing that could define a president's entire tenure. But I’m not reinventing the wheel with what I’m about to say, because it feels like every other member of the media has said the same thing.
The bottom line is this: if you’re going to hold onto Tarik Skubal, then go for it. Make moves and utilize free agency to improve. I’m not asking you to spend recklessly, but you still need to allocate funds and assemble a team that you believe is capable of making a deep run through October with Skubal as your ace. Yes, I’m aware that October has the ability to be somewhat random, and I can respect that. I often make the Max Scherzer comparison. The Tigers held onto Max Scherzer when he was in a contract year in 2014, and even though they came up short, they went for it. I’m not going to knock any team willing to put their chips in the center of the table.
The major issue is that Scott Harris views this organization as one that is still in the process of being built. I know that he has said he doesn’t believe in windows, but I don’t think he views this as a fully functional machine until his young crop of players, which includes Kevin McGonigle, gets called up to the big league level. And even if they get called up to the big league level in 2026, you know that there’s going to be some growing pains. In the meantime, you’re going to have an ace who takes the ball every fifth day who, with each passing start, inches ever so closer to getting a massive payday and leaving your organization.
The truth is that you can’t afford to have a developmental year in 2026. and that means not rolling the dice to see if Trey Sweeney can figure it out at shortstop or starting the year with Cole Keith at third base and praying to God that he figures things out. You have an A+ starting pitcher at the top of your rotation. You can’t expect major success if you’re going to give him a C+ roster. Currently, there are too many holes on this roster for me to think they'll have a legitimate shot at winning anything substantial in 2026.
One wrinkle is that Bob Nightengale reported that the Tigers are likely to hold onto Skubal until at least the 2026 deadline. That would be the worst-case scenario, because it would imply that the Tigers won’t be competitive in the first half of the 2026 season, and it would also mean that the return for Skubal would be inevitably underwhelming, as whoever trades for him would only be trading for 10 to 12 starts.
I don’t want to fear monger. If I felt like they were in a good place with their mindset, I would tell you, but I don’t like this. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tarik Skubal and I want to see him here, but you can’t be wishy-washy. You have to be decisive with your moves. You don’t hold the cards here. And I’m starting to become fearful that we’re going to see "smartest guy in the room" syndrome shine through with Scott Harris once again. I desperately hope that I’m wrong.