Have $400 million hanging around? A defending, back-to-back Cy Young Award winner at the top of his game is available.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace and former Detroit Tigers superstar Tarik Skubal is the top player on the MLB free agent market, and figures to become the highest-paid pitcher in the sport. Any team that seeks to sign Skubal, though, realistically has to be able to afford to give out a historic contract and has a clear need for a pitcher of his ilk.
With that, here are the three best MLB free agent fits for Skubal should he depart Los Angeles:
New York Mets
The top payroll in Major League Baseball earned a last-place finish in its division. In summation: The New York Mets need a major boost, pronto, and Skubal would emphatically fill a years-long void.
Last season, the Mets’ starting rotation was 23rd in MLB in ERA (4.47), tied for 21st in WHIP (1.33) and tied for 14th in opponent batting average (.245). Nolan McLean (3.16 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 31 starts last season) looks like a budding star, while Christian Scott and Zac Thornton have shown promise, but the Mets don’t have a veteran and dominant rotation backbone.
The Mets thought they had that exact pitcher when they acquired Freddy Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers last offseason, but he struggled mightily (4.99 ERA in 22 starts) and was ultimately sent to the Tampa Bay Rays, with whom he got back on track (3.25 ERA in 10 regular-season starts). Moreover, Clay Holmes fractured his fibula in May and was later traded to the Chicago Cubs, as the Mets were out of playoff contention.
Skubal would become New York’s undisputed ace. He offers a potent left-hander who posts strikeouts at a high rate, can pitch deep into games and does so while consistently throwing four pitches (four-seamer, changeup, sinker and slider), with a curveball mixed in every here and there.
What stops the Mets from being the best fit for Skubal, though, is that his arrival would likely make New York a playoff contender, rather than a threat to winning the NL pennant.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays went from being one win away from a World Series triumph to last place in the American League East. Also, their offense went from fourth to last in runs.
What happened here?
Nevertheless, this is still a talented team that should be operating as if it’s going to get back into the playoff mix. On that note, the Skubal dude, right?
Toronto moved veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman at the trade deadline, while Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Jameson Taillon are free agents. Either way, another arm is needed. Skubal just so happens to be able to change the Blue Jays’ 2027 prospects.
Skubal would become the leader of a starting rotation that was 15th in ERA (4.22) and WHIP (1.29) last season. Ironically, those figures were mostly better than when the Blue Jays reached the 2025 World Series (4.34 ERA and a .251 opponent batting average in the regular season).
Skubal would join forces with Dylan Cease, who had arguably the best year of his MLB career in his first season with the Blue Jays (2.40 ERA, 239 strikeouts and 5.5 wins above replacement), midseason pickup José Soriano and emerging right-hander Trey Yesavage. Working under the expectation that a Blue Jays offense which features Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement will bounce back, an enhanced rotation that features Skubal should get the Blue Jays off the mat.
All that said, while Skubal would get Toronto back in the AL East mix, if not the AL pennant mix, there’s a team that the southpaw would put over the top.
Chicago Cubs
Fix a problem with an axe, and it becomes part of your past. Fix a problem with a Band-Aid, and it becomes part of your future. The Cubs need to stop doing the latter (e.g., acquiring Mike Soroka at the 2025 MLB trade deadline and the combination of Holmes, Gausman, David Peterson, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett this year) and do the former.
Sure, Skubal could be what any team needs to make a jump, but he’s exactly what the Cubs have needed, perhaps more than any consistent playoff team of late.
Chicago’s starting rotation surrendered the third-most home runs in MLB last season (142), while being 18th in ERA (4.27) and tied for 12th in opponent batting average (.244). Furthermore, their pitching staff as a whole had the third-highest opponent barrel percentage (8.7%), sixth-highest opponent hard-hit percentage (39.8%) and seventh-highest opponent average exit velocity (89.1 mph), per Statcast.
Shota Imanaga and Gausman are each free agents, while both Holmes and Gausman underwhelmed after coming over in trade deadline deals. The Cubs, who have made the playoffs in each of the last two years but haven’t reached the NL Championship Series since 2017, need an ace.
Skubal, who led the AL in ERA and wins above replacement in 2024 and 2025, would give the Cubs a definitive Game 1 postseason starter. Across 50 ⅔ career innings pitched in the postseason, the left-hander owns a 2.13 ERA, an 0.79 WHIP and has logged 70 strikeouts. In his 10 regular-season starts with the Dodgers this year, Skubal posted a 2.61 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 70 strikeouts over 62.0 innings (10 starts).
A rotation that includes Skubal, Matthew Boyd, one of the earlier-mentioned acquisitions, and maybe Imanaga on a short-term deal makes a respectable Chicago rotation a should-be formidable one. Plus, maybe Justin Steele, a 2023 All-Star who hasn’t pitched for the Cubs since April 2025 due to elbow discomfort, can return to action, and Chicago can use its surplus of pitchers to acquire an outfielder to potentially replace one of Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ or Michael Conforto, who are each set to be free agents?
Skubal’s arrival would help the Cubs challenge the World Series-champion Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and make them a championship contender.
That sounds worth the price of admission.
