Why Mets should make bold move, trade for Tarik Skubal

The New York Mets are one team to keep an eye on this offseason, as they need to be smart about their signings and trades to put them back on a competitive track after taking a massive step back in 2025. 

The Mets need to rebuild their pitching staff, as they had the 18th-best starters' ERA (4.13) and a better bullpen ERA (15th at 3.93) last season, but lost their best bullpen arm, RHP Edwin Diaz, to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will hurt them in late-game situations. 

After going 83-79 and having a historic collapse down the stretch after being one of the best teams in baseball and missing the playoffs entirely, the Mets need to rebuild their starting staff to compete with the likes of the reigning National League East champs, the Philadelphia Phillies, as well as the Atlanta Braves. Both teams are formidable and are building dominant pitching staffs, with the Braves recently adding closer Robert Suarez. 

Lacking an ace, the Mets need to make a bold move to acquire one. A likely trade for Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal could be in play, with the Mets having the money to give Skubal the contract he desires and the talent to acquire his services. 

What a Tarik Skubal trade for Mets could look like

Though trading the reigning and back-to-back Cy Young Award winner (2024 and 2025) would be highly unexpected, the Tigers are unwilling to pay Skubal his asking price in a contract extension, with both sides being far apart on a deal. Since this is the case, there's speculation that the Tigers will move Skubal this offseason, fearing that he'll get hurt during the season and decrease his value. 

Enter the Mets, who have the wealthiest owner in baseball, Steve Cohen ($23B per Forbes), and a decent farm system. The Mets have a decent chance to trade for the Tigers' lefty and make him the highest-paid pitcher in history, which his agent, Scott Boras, is looking for. 

MLB insider and New York Post columnist Jon Heyman agrees that the Mets have the prospects to get a deal done. However, he notes that the Mets' president of baseball operations, David Stearns, loves his prospects, which is something he'll need to get over if he's going to trade for a generational talent like Skubal. 

"The Mets are well-equipped to trade with an outstanding stash of big league ready-prospects," Heyman notes, "but Mets baseball president David Stearns is among the majority of execs who loves prospects and may be loathe to gut his system for a pitcher who could leave after 2026."

Here's a hypothical trade:

The Tigers receive: 

• INF Jeff McNeil: .243 average , .746 OPS in 122 games
• INF Luisangel Acuna: .234, .576 in 96 games
• OF and NO. 2 prospect Carson Benge: A-AAA, .281, .857 in 116 games
• RHP and No. 4 prospect Jonah Tong: AA-AAA: 10-5 with a 1.58 ERA in 22 starts, MLB: 2-3 with 7.71 ERA in five starts

According to Spotrac, the Tigers' post-trade tax total is: $168M, and their post-trade tax space is: $73M.

The Mets receive: 

• LHP Tarik Skubal: 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA (led the American League), one shutout, and struck out 241 batters in 195.1 innings 

The Mets' post-trade tax total is $342M, with their post-trade tax space being $-101M.

Tarik Skubal is the ace the Mets need 

Lacking an ace, adding Skubal would immediately make the Mets the favorites to take down the back-to-back World Series Champions, the Dodgers. Despite losing a staple and franchise icon in first baseman Pete Alonso to the Baltimore Orioles, the Mets still have two of the best players in the game in outfielder Juan Soto (.263 average, .921 OPS) and shortstop Francisco Lindor (.267, .811). 

The Mets also have a decent complement of arms to follow Skubal in the rotation, such as LHP David Peterson (4.22 ERA in 2025), RHP Clay Holmes (3.53), RHP Nolan McLean (2.06), LHP Sean Manaea (5.64), and RHP Brandon Sproat (4.79).