Tarik Skubal’s latest comments about a possible return to Detroit did not land well with Tigers fans, and it’s not hard to see why.
Since the trade deadline, the Dodgers have been spiraling. On Friday night, they dropped their seventh straight game, undone by a walk-off two-run homer from Ryan Waldschmidt off Edwin Díaz.
It was the kind of night that has only happened twice in their last nine seasons. And in a twist that only made the whole thing sting more for Los Angeles, Skubal was on the mound for his Dodgers debut.
Detroit, meanwhile, has plenty going for it. The Tigers are just two games out of a Wild Card spot and own the third-best run differential in the American League.
Skubal’s transition from franchise centerpiece to new face in Los Angeles has been messy from the start. He got emotional while discussing leaving his teammates in Detroit, then quickly started talking up the Dodgers once he arrived.
Tigers fans have been angry that he reportedly made no real effort to work out an extension. Dodgers fans, on the other hand, have bristled at how often he keeps bringing up the Tigers.
His latest comments only added fuel. On the Pardon My Take podcast, Skubal said he “hopes those negotiations can pick back up in November.
[...] Hopefully they're involved with everything.
I would love to return.”
That sounds cordial enough on the surface. Detroit fans didn’t hear it that way.
“I would love to play my entire career in Detroit”
refuses to negotiate a contract extension
Tarik, we’re not stupid.
- Benson (@Miggysbat) August 7, 2026
There is a case to be made that the reaction has gone too far. Skubal was never likely to sign an extension unless the Tigers made him the kind of offer that would reshape the market, and that’s widely expected to be around $400 million.
He sits on the MLB Players Association’s executive subcommittee and is expected to help set that market, especially with a lockout looming. He was not going to take a discount, and Detroit’s front office was never going to step outside its comfort zone to hand him that kind of deal.
Even so, the latest message from Skubal rubbed plenty of people the wrong way. He knows the Tigers are unlikely to be aggressive in free agency, if they are involved at all.
Scott Harris has already said he didn’t believe in a Skubal window, and he’s not likely to go out of his way to force one open now. With Troy Melton’s ascent, Jackson Jobe’s return, and Cameron Flukey’s addition to the farm system, Detroit has three reasons to let the Skubal chapter close.
At this point, the feeling in some corners of the fan base is simple: Skubal is gone. The hope is that he stays gone and stops twisting the knife.
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