Former GM Insists That One Team Above All Others NEEDS To Sign Skubal

Tarik Skubal is a Los Angeles Dodger. Like we all thought he'd be. But he's still in line to be a free agent at season's end, and word is he'll be asking for the biggest contract ever for a pitcher, at over $400 million. And frankly, if there's any pitcher in the game today who deserves it, it would be the two-time Cy Young winner, the best pitcher in the game. 

Where will Skubal wind up signing this winter? 

Do the Dodgers really need him going forward after this season? They've still got Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, etc., etc. 

Skubal has already said, surprisingly, he'd love to go back to Detroit. But we all know that the Tigers are not ponying up $400 million. 

And really, there's only one other team that would gladly fork out that money, and it's a team, according to former MLB GM Jim Duquette, that absolutely MUST sign him. The New York Mets.

“(The Mets) have to sign Skubal,” Jim Duquette says on The Show. Also in the pod, Phils baseball prez Dave Dombrowski admits they are in a “dogfight” to get in and also hits on Arraez, their new alignment and of course Alex Cora pic.twitter.com/zLkJOiVw2D

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 11, 2026

Mets GM David Stearns has always been loath to sign pitchers to long-term contracts. But when it comes to Tarik Skubal, it might be time for him to think outside the box, so to speak. 

"The philosophy that David Stearns has had just doesn't work in New York," Duquette told Jon Heyman on The Show podcast. "They have to sign Skubal! I don't believe there's any other way out of this if they don't get Skubal. I hate throwing pressure on a guy; I've been in that job before... But in the free agent market, you have to take your shot."

Dodgers have the inside track on signing Skubal, but Mets 'have to take their shot'

The Dodgers, of course, already have the inside track, having traded for him. They have that money to spend, as well. And if they win a World Series together this fall, it'll make it even more difficult for Skubal to leave—especially to go to a team with such a poor track record, and this far away from contention as the Mets seem to be. 

Duquette and Heyman do say it'll be a two-horse race. We'll all have track-side seats for it this winter.