Detroit Tigers star left-hander Tarik Skubal will be paid $32 million this year after a three-person salary arbitration panel ruled in his favor Thursday over the $19 million salary the team proposed, sources told ESPN.
The victory for Skubal, 29, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, not only bests the record salary for a player in the arbitration system by $1 million but shatters the previous high mark of $19.9 million for an award from a panel.
How the decision affects Skubal’s future, which has been clouded by questions about the Tigers potentially trading him before he becomes a free agent after this season, is unclear. The Tigers’ signing of the best free agent left on the market, Framber Valdez, to a three-year, $115 million contract hours after Skubal’s hearing ended Wednesday gave Detroit one of the best No. 2 starters in Major League Baseball — or a backup ace should the arbitration decision change Detroit’s posture, which has been to enter the season with Skubal.