Tigers prez: No 'untouchables,' including Skubal

Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, even after winning the Cy Young Award in back-to-back seasons, is not “untouchable” when it comes to trade offers, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday.

“I don’t believe in untouchable players at any level,” Harris told MLB Network on Monday at the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida. “It’s not a commentary on Tarik; it’s more of a blanket approach to building a winning organization. My job is to make this organization better … which means that I need to listen to every opportunity, no matter how likely or unlikely it is to actually happen. I’ve got to listen because we’ve got to get better as an organization, so that’s our approach.

“We don’t have everything figured out, but it’s led to a ton of success in a very short period of time. And I can stand here and credibly say that we have both a bright present and a bright future, and this approach has led to that.”

Skubal has one season remaining until he reaches free agency. If the Tigers can’t sign the left-hander to an extension — his agent is Scott Boras, and Boras clients rarely sign extensions this close to free agency — the Tigers could very well entertain trade possibilities.

“I can’t, and I won’t, speculate on trades for our own players,” Harris told MLB Network. “Like, it’s just not fair to the players. It’s not fair to the other teams. And the second thing is, there are 25 other guys in our locker room — 25 guys that are busting their butts to play on the field, and it takes all of us to actually get to the postseason. It’s not a commentary on Tarik. It’s the organizational ethos we have. It’s going to take all of us, it’s going to take every little thing, to get to the postseason.

“Listen, Tarik’s a Tiger right now. We’re thrilled he’s a Tiger. … He’s a huge part of what we’re doing right now.”

Skubal became the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards since Jacob deGrom in 2018-19 for the New York Mets and the first American League pitcher to do so since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000 for the Boston Red Sox.

Skubal finished 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 195⅓ innings, leading the AL in Baseball-Reference WAR (6.5) and FanGraphs WAR (6.6) while also leading qualified pitchers in ERA, strikeout rate (32.2%), lowest walk rate (4.4%), OBP allowed (.240) and OPS allowed (.559).

Using a blistering fastball that averaged nearly 98 mph and one of the best changeups in the game that limited batters to a .154 average and registered 110 of his strikeouts, Skubal did not give up a run in 12 of his 31 starts, the most scoreless starts of at least six innings in Tigers history and the most in the majors since Adam Wainwright in 2014.

Over the past two seasons, Skubal has gone 31-10 while leading MLB in strikeouts (469), WHIP (0.91) and is second in ERA (2.30), innings pitched (387⅓) and opponent OPS (.558). The Tigers’ season came to an end both times in Game 5 of the AL Division Series.

“I think we have a really good team that we’re going to put on the field — and I think Tarik is a big part of that — but there are a lot of really talented players in this organization and in the big leagues that are helping us win a lot,” Harris said.

ESPN David Schoenfield contributed to this report.