LAS VEGAS –– Amid the many scripted (and strained) puns that Scott Boras came equipped with on Wednesday at MLB’s annual General Managers’ Meetings, the sport’s most prominent player agent got his biggest laugh from reporters with a little bit of improv.
Fifteen minutes into his press conference at the Aria Resort and Casino, Boras was briefly interrupted when his cellphone unexpectedly rang.
“Just another owner,” Boras quipped, “begging to meet with Skubal.”
The line was the most succinct summation of the larger point Boras conveyed on Wednesday.
Even with a lockout looming at the beginning of next month, the market for top free-agent pitcher Tarik Skubal is already taking lucrative shape.
“It’s very clear that there is a dominant and strong Sku-bull market,” Boras boasted. “It’s pretty clear teams are not devoid of pursuing their championship fortunes, and they understand there’s only one Tar-ot card, no doubt.”
Indeed, Boras will have no lack of suitors when it comes to his two-time Cy Young Award-winning client. As the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported, the left-handed ace is scheduled to meet with six teams –– the Dodgers, Mets, Padres and Blue Jays among them –– at the Boras Corporation’s California headquarters next week.
“In the deep waters of talent treasure, there’s no time to come up for air,” Boras said. “So teams have filled their tanks, and they’re all clearly ready for the Skubal dive, no doubt.”
The real question at this point is how aggressively clubs will bid for the 30-year-old superstar, especially with the league pushing for a salary cap (or other stricter spending limitations) in its fraught labor negotiations with the players’ union over a new collective bargaining agreement.
Entering this offseason, the industry expectation was that Skubal would receive a long-term contract worth upwards of $400 million or more.
Whether other teams are willing to go to such lengths, however, could be the biggest determinant in the Dodgers’ chances of re-signing their marquee trade deadline acquisition from this past season.
For now, the Dodgers are in wait-and-see mode when it comes to their approach to the Skubal sweepstakes.
They would love to have the pitcher back, after Skubal ingratiated himself with the organization over the second half of last season.
“I know he enjoyed his time here and we loved having him,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Tuesday. “So I think that’s certainly helpful as far as those conversations go.”
But the club is also wary of adding another long-term mega-contract to their already bloated future payroll picture. While all options remain open, their preference is believed to be for a shorter-term, higher annual-average-value structure –– similar to the deal they struck with last year’s top free agent, Kyle Tucker.
Boras declined to comment when asked if Skubal would be receptive to such an offer.
“I don’t discuss contract negotiations with anything but the teams,” he said.
Still, it’s unlikely Skubal would settle for such an agreement if other bidders come in with the kind of offers he has been projected to receive.
Whether or not that happens before the lockout –– which, as of now, is when Skubal is expected to try and sign by –– is where the true intrigue lies for both him and the Dodgers.
The Mets have the resources to swing such a deal, thanks to deep-pocketed owner Steve Cohen. But they have also typically been averse to long-term commitments for pitchers in their 30s, and will likely be trying to sign multiple impact starters this winter to restock their thin rotation.
The Blue Jays and Padres have not been afraid of expensive splash moves in recent years. But as a result, they are already spending at historic levels relative to their franchises’ histories, leaving their willingness to add another significant contract to their books unclear.
The spectre of a potential salary cap, meanwhile, could give any of them added pause until the new CBA rules are clear.
It all explains why the Dodgers are content to monitor how Skubal’s market develops over the next couple weeks, before deciding if they are willing to step out of their own comfort zone in their efforts to re-sign him.
They know the benefits that would come with bringing Skubal back, and keeping him atop a stacked rotation that also features Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.
But they are also conscious of the risks they could incur with a longer-term deal, especially given Skubal’s history of three elbow procedures (including an arthroscopic surgery this past season to remove loose bodies from his arm, a flexor tendon operation in 2022, and Tommy John in 2017).
Thus, if any team blows Skubal away with a massive offer, it’s unlikely (though not impossible) the Dodgers would decide to match it.
Until that happens, however, the club will be lying in wait, ready to pounce if his market doesn’t develop quite as strongly as anticipated.
