{"id":138003,"date":"2026-01-11T11:19:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=138003"},"modified":"2026-01-11T11:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:19:48","slug":"%f0%9f%92%a5-mlb-power-shift-the-tarik-skubal-standoff-just-thrust-craig-breslows-biggest-boston-red-sox-win-into-the-spotlight-a-quiet-masterstroke-now-being-rewritten-as-a-franchis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=138003","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udca5 MLB POWER SHIFT: The Tarik Skubal Standoff Just Thrust Craig Breslow\u2019s Biggest Boston Red Sox Win Into the Spotlight\u2014A Quiet Masterstroke Now Being Rewritten as a Franchise-Defining Moment."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-img\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_307,w_5231,h_2942\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/14\/01kehn543jvepwrz4483.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"848\" height=\"478\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption>Division Series &#8211; Detroit Tigers v Seattle Mariners &#8211; Game 5 | Jane Gershovich\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal md:mx-10\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:pr-8 lg:w-[calc(100%-300px)] max-w-full\"><main class=\"min-w-0 flex-1 odesa-article-main\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<figure class=\"player-wrapper relative aspect-video mb-[18px] bg-grey rounded-md hidden player-wrapper-lg md:block\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-content [&amp;_p]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_p]:md:leading-[28px] [&amp;_li]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_li]:md:leading-[28px]\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Twice consecutive American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is one of the best pitchers, if not the best, in MLB. This winter, he entered the final year of his contract with the Detroit Tigers, and the two sides couldn&#8217;t reach an agreement on his salary for the upcoming season. Skubal and the Tigers could go to an arbitration hearing if they don&#8217;t settle before the scheduled date.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Detroit and Skubal filed salary figures so far apart\u00a0that they seemed destined for a trial \u2014 the Tigers filed at $19 million while Skubal and his agent, Scott Boras, filed at $32 million, which would be the highest arbitration salary for a player in MLB history.\u00a0In 2015, Detroit awarded David Price\u00a0the highest ever arbitration salary for a pitcher at $19.75 million. Skubal hoped to blow that figure out of the water.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_14\" class=\"mm-slot-content\">\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_14_slot0\" data-gpid=\"23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_1\" data-google-query-id=\"CMTG8PHBgJIDFeiGpgMdc1QuXw\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Thankfully, the Boston Red Sox don&#8217;t have to go through this process with\u00a0their ace and AL Cy Young Award finalist,\u00a0Garrett Crochet. Despite a self-imposed Opening Day deadline last year, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on March 31 managed to sign Crochet to a six-year, $170 million extension to keep him in Boston beyond the two seasons of control on his initial contract.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Now, Crochet makes $28.33 million per year, which is likely more than Skubal will be awarded in his arbitration hearing, but his salary hike has been worth it for Boston so far. Crochet posted a 2.59 ERA, a 1.028 WHIP, 255 strikeouts (which led MLB) and 46 walks over 205.1 innings. He earned his second All-Star nomination, second place in Cy Young voting and came in eighth in the AL MVP race.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_15\" class=\"mm-slot-content\">\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_15_slot0\" data-gpid=\"23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_2\" data-google-query-id=\"CPKN_fHBgJIDFcyL6QUdK4Ulww\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_1__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Red Sox smart (and lucky) to avoid Tarik Skubal-Tigers-style arbitration fiasco with Garrett Crochet<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Despite being part of the business of baseball, arbitration hearings can be contentious. The Tigers will have to present a case for why Skubal, the best pitcher in the AL two years running, is only worth $19 million, a pittance compared to his expected price in free agency one year from now. Not only will that be exceedingly difficult, it could sour any chance Detroit had to extend the pitcher, which was already quite small.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">If Crochet were up for arbitration this year, he wouldn&#8217;t have filed for a salary as high as Skubal did \u2014\u00a0Crochet is a top-tier pitcher, but Skubal has the trophies in his case to warrant possibly the highest salary ever for a pitcher before free agency.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_16\" class=\"mm-slot-content\">\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_6_16_slot0\" data-gpid=\"23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_3\" data-google-query-id=\"CLHxjvLBgJIDFVzxTAIddwAJbA\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_23162276296\/fansided\/mlb\/bosoxinjection.com\/inarticle_d_2__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Crochet&#8217;s figure still would&#8217;ve been high and the Red Sox&#8217;s recent hangups about spending money could&#8217;ve sent them to a hearing. In 2025, Boston and Jarren Duran filed just $500 thousand apart and couldn&#8217;t settle before the deadline, but managed to\u00a0avoid a hearing by meeting in the middle.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The Tigers and Skubal have a long few weeks of negotiation ahead of them before their hearing date in February, and a potentially ugly trial after that. The Red Sox were quick, smart and lucky to avoid such a fate with their star pitcher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Division Series &#8211; Detroit Tigers v Seattle Mariners &#8211; Game 5 | Jane Gershovich\/GettyImages Twice consecutive American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is one of&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udca5 MLB POWER SHIFT: The Tarik Skubal Standoff Just Thrust Craig Breslow\u2019s Biggest Boston Red Sox Win Into the Spotlight\u2014A Quiet Masterstroke Now Being Rewritten as a Franchise-Defining Moment. - 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