The looming salary match between the Tigers and their superstar pitcher has been called a “fumble.”
Former Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson blasted the Tigers for their arbitration negotiations with top lefty Tarik Skubal, days after the sides failed to reach a 2026 contract agreement.
“A little behind, but just saw the arbitration news on Skubal,” Donaldson wrote on X on Saturday. “I mean the Detroit Tigers are making such a big effort. Skubal wants 32 million. Detroit offers 19 million. Trash organization.”
The $13 million arbitration gap between Skubal and the Tigers is the largest in MLB history.
Skubal, 29, has won back-to-back Cy Young awards from the American League, cementing himself as one of the best pitchers in the sport.
Over the past two seasons, Skubal has posted an eye-popping 31-10 record with a 2.30 ERA and 469 strikeouts in 387 ⅓ innings across 62 games.
Skubal will try to break the highest salary for an arbitration-eligible pitcher, a record set by David Price’s $19.75 million in 2015.
Donaldson, a former American League MVP, is more familiar with the trappings of the arbitration process than most.
Just after winning the award in 2015, Donaldson and the Blue Jays failed to reach an agreement as he submitted a fee of $11.8 million while Toronto had a counter of $11.35 million.
The sides agreed to a two-year extension, buying out two of his arbitration seasons before agreeing to a then-record one-year, $23 million contract in February 2018 in his final push through the process.
Despite Donaldson’s desire for a multi-year extension, that never materialized and the Blue Jays ultimately traded the All-Star months later – a possible outcome for Skubal.
The Post’s Jon Heyman reported in November that there is a $250 million gap in expansion talks between Skubal and Detroit, which has led to his name floating around in trade rumors all offseason.
The Mets and Yankees have both been linked to the left-hander, with the latter feeling it would take “half the team” to pry him away, Heyman reported earlier this week.
Donaldson, who spent two disappointing seasons in the Bronx from 2022 to 2023, is not the first former Yankee to wade into the Skubal saga this offseason.
Cameron Maybin, a former Tigers outfielder, ripped into his former team’s handling of Skubal in November while pushing the Yankees for a trade.
“Tigers clearly don’t want to pay him, otherwise they would have already done so. I’m sure they are trying to justify or convince themselves [how] it’s probably not smart to pay Skubal what he deserves,” Maybin said.
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