Tigers Ace Tarik Skubal Opens Up About Fallout from Arbitration
· Yahoo Sports
Tarik Skubal’s comments about the Detroit Tigers’ arbitration process aren’t going away.
Just one day after The Athletic published an interview in which the Tigers ace admitted the organization’s decision to take him to arbitration may have subconsciously influenced how he handled an elbow issue this past offseason, Skubal was asked to expand on those remarks before Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.
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His response made one thing clear: while he insists the arbitration process hasn’t affected his relationships inside the clubhouse, he believes it unquestionably impacts the relationship between a player and the organization.
Skubal Says Arbitration Changes Relationships
When asked about the arbitration process, Skubal didn’t sugarcoat his feelings.
“Of course, when a team takes a player to arbitration, there aren’t a lot of positive things that come out of that relationship-wise. I think that’s pretty obvious.”
Those comments come on the heels of Skubal’s admission that he knew something was wrong with his elbow in January but delayed getting an MRI.
At the time, he explained why.
“If I could go back, I probably should have got an MRI in January and hammered it out to where I was done with it in the offseason,” Skubal said. “But there were also other factors in play. I was going through arbitration. The decision by the organization to take me to court, I think that probably had some impact subconsciously.”
That revelation sparked widespread discussion across baseball, with many wondering whether the business side of the game had influenced one of the sport’s premier pitchers to delay addressing a potentially serious injury.
Clubhouse Relationships Remain Strong
While Skubal acknowledged the strain arbitration can create between a player and a club, he was quick to separate that from his day to day relationships inside the Tigers’ clubhouse.
“My relationship with the coaching staff, the players, and my teammates has never changed. It’s the same as it’s always been, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
That distinction is important.
Skubal made it clear he has no issues with manager A.J. Hinch, the coaching staff, or his teammates. His comments were directed at the business side of baseball, not the people he takes the field with every night.
“You Guys Should Experience That Yourselves”
Skubal also suggested that it’s difficult to understand arbitration without living through it.
“As far as sitting through the arbitration process, you guys should experience that yourselves.”
For those unfamiliar, arbitration hearings can become uncomfortable. Teams often highlight a player’s weaknesses and argue why he isn’t worth the salary he’s requesting. While it’s part of Major League Baseball’s labor system, many players have described the experience as one of the least enjoyable parts of their careers.
Business Is Business
Despite everything that’s unfolded, Skubal says he has worked to keep baseball and business separate.
“It is what it is. It’s the business of the game. Business and baseball are two separate things, and you try to keep them separate. I think I’ve done a good job of that. I’m just worried about doing my job, competing, and putting our team in a position to win a baseball game.”
Those comments may help provide additional context to his earlier remarks, but they’re unlikely to quiet the conversation.
Skubal Says MRI Story Has Been “Blown Out of Proportion”
Skubal also sought to clarify the comments that ignited the latest wave of headlines, emphasizing that he never refused medical treatment or ignored recommendations from the Tigers’ medical staff.
Instead, he said everyone believed his elbow was improving after an early setback.
“That’s just hindsight. I thought we were trending in the right direction throughout the whole process. I had a hiccup in January, but I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was just a different kind of soreness. I’d never dealt with anything like that before.”
According to Skubal, there simply wasn’t a reason to pursue imaging at the time because both he and the organization believed the issue was resolving itself.
“We were trending the right way. That’s why there was no MRI. There wasn’t even a discussion about an MRI. I kept making starts, I kept helping the team, and I felt like I was doing my job.”
It wasn’t until his outing in Atlanta, when the discomfort worsened significantly, that the situation changed.
“Then I had the incident in Atlanta. The next two days weren’t great, and that’s why I decided to have an MRI and ultimately have the surgery.”
Skubal also pushed back against some of the public reaction that followed his original comments, saying many of the narratives surrounding the situation have been inaccurate.
“That whole thing was blown out of proportion. I get it, but a lot of what has been said isn’t true or factual. The idea that I denied getting an MRI isn’t something I even need to address because I’m not going to play that game. A lot of things that are said about me just aren’t true. It is what it is.”
While he admitted he would have handled things differently knowing what he knows now, Skubal stressed that hindsight makes those decisions look much easier than they felt at the time.
“Of course, in hindsight, I would have gotten an MRI in January if I knew it wasn’t going to get better. But I didn’t. I thought it was getting better for three months until it wasn’t.”
He closed by acknowledging that the situation appears much more obvious looking back than it actually was while he was living through it.
“You’d think that would be more obvious than it was, but it is what it is.”
Those comments provide additional context to the remarks that generated so much attention earlier this week. While Skubal continues to maintain that the arbitration process may have had a subconscious effect on his thinking, he insists the decision not to get an MRI in January was driven by the belief that his elbow was improving, not because he rejected medical advice or knowingly pitched through a serious injury.
The Bottom Line
Taken together, Skubal’s comments paint a more complete picture of where things stand.
He isn’t suggesting his relationships with teammates or coaches have changed, nor is he claiming arbitration caused his elbow issue. Instead, he’s acknowledging something many players around baseball have long said: the arbitration process can strain the relationship between a player and the front office.
Whether Tigers fans accept that explanation is another matter.
With Skubal represented by Scott Boras, trade rumors swirling, and free agency inching closer, every public comment is being examined through a much larger lens. Fair or not, what began as an arbitration hearing has evolved into one of the biggest storylines surrounding the Tigers’ franchise ace.