Tarik Skubal Wants to Re-Sign With Report

The Los Angeles Dodgers have forged a somewhat long history of acquiring impact major league players in midseason trades under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Some of these players (Rich Hill, Tommy Edman) re-signed in Los Angeles for the long haul. Most others (Yu Darvish, Max Scherzer, Manny Machado, Jack Flaherty) did not.

What will Tarik Skubal do?

That's the million-dollar question lingering over free agency this offseason. The final number might fall between $350 and $500 million, in the estimate of former major league general manager Jim Bowden.

"He's going to be the highest paid pitcher in baseball history, either by AAV or the full deal," Bowden told Bill Reiter and Doug McKain on 97.1-FM The Fan. "When I tried to put a number on what he's going to get ... I said, kind of with a sense of humor, somewhere between $350 and $500 million, depending on length of contract. That's really what I believe."

That's a lot of money, but the Dodgers can afford it — as long as MLB doesn't impose a hard salary cap in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Not insignificantly, Bowden said Skubal has interest in re-signing.

"I think — and again, this is not him telling me or anyone else this — but the sense I get from people that he has talked to is, he would love to continue being a Los Angeles Dodger," Bowden said. "He loved his time with LA. He loved how the front office, and research and development department, and the pitching room, were able to help him to really show him the things he does well, and how they can help him become an even better pitcher than the guy who's won two Cy Young Awards."

"I do think it's a perfect marriage for LA," he added. "I just think it's complicated because of the contract."

The only certainty is that the same CBA that allowed the Dodgers to sign Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract in January is in effect through the end of November. It expires Dec. 1.

Bowden said that kind of contract structure could appeal to the Dodgers — even if it means Skubal receives, for example, $75 million a year over four seasons.

Depending on the particular terms of the cap-and-floor system MLB is proposing, a deal like that might not be possible if owners get their way in collective bargaining talks. Generally speaking, it will only be more difficult for teams at the higher end of the team payroll rankings to add to their outlay for 2027 and beyond with a hard cap on payroll.

If Skubal remains unsigned by Dec. 1, a hard cap could take the Dodgers out of the sweepstakes. It's unknown whether Skubal and his agent, Scott Boras, want to do a deal before the lockout begins. For now at least, the interest between Skubal and the Dodgers sounds mutual.