The Mets may be prepared to go all the way in a Tarik Skubal chase, but matching the top offer might still leave them short.
According to SNY insider Chelsea Janes, the belief is that New York will match any major deal Skubal receives. But that’s only part of the equation.
The bigger question is whether Skubal actually wants to end up in Queens. Janes also reported that the “consensus” is that if Mets owner Steve Cohen wants Skubal, New York will “pay whatever it takes” to sign him.
That kind of financial muscle matters, but it may not be enough by itself. The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the mix too, and Skubal just finished the season with them after the Detroit Tigers dealt him there at the trade deadline. Given that stretch, Los Angeles would seem to have an edge if the offers come in equal.
If both teams put the same number on the table, Skubal would likely lean toward the Dodgers over the Mets. The fit makes sense: the Dodgers can sell him on a real shot at winning now and down the road, and there’s already familiarity from his time there.
That leaves the Mets with a simple but expensive path. They may need to go beyond whatever Los Angeles offers if they want to pry Skubal away.
Matching the Dodgers probably won’t get it done. New York would have to pair its pitch for short- and long-term contention with an offer that stands out on its own.
Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, has already negotiated the richest deal ever for a starting pitcher, a nine-year, $324 million contract for Gerrit Cole with the New York Yankees. He also landed Juan Soto’s record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets, the richest contract in professional sports. With Skubal coming off back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2024 and 2025, Boras may have room to push even higher.
So if this turns into the bidding war it looks like, the Mets will have to be bold. They’ll need the same kind of aggression they showed with Soto two years ago, because in this kind of race, the highest offer is the one that matters.
New York doesn’t usually hand out long-term deals to starting pitchers nearing 30, but Skubal isn’t an ordinary case. He’s a generational arm, and that changes the conversation.
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