TheDetroit Tigersare well-positioned to triumph in the land of the indifferent.
All it took was onehandshake with Framber Valdezand a short-term commitment to the left-hander to ensure the 2026 Tigers will be significant favorites in theAmerican League Central, where five teams worth a combined $8 billion typically engage in an annual ritual of seeing who can do less.
The Tigers decided to zag: While the modern fan has been conditioned into the loser mindset of "you better trade a guy before you get nothing," Detroit instead took the more appropriate tack of surrounding Tarik Skubal with another elite arm in his almost certainly final year in Motown.
And they even locked up a replacement when he walks. Novel, isn't it?
In signing Valdez to a three-year, $115.5 million contract, the Tigers immediately trot out the AL's most dominant 1-2 punch, a duo perhaps rivaled in Boston or Toronto or Seattle but still can't match the raw dominance of possessing the game's most dominant pitchers and also one of its rocks.
Skubal's greatness is well-documented. Valdez's is a little sneakier, his greatest value coming in the 180 to 200 excellent innings he typically provides every season. Lest we forget, he was the lead blocker in the 2022Astros' push to the World Series title, going 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA, the Astros winning all four of his starts.
Certainly, a late-season kerfuffle involving his catcher might have dampened his value on the market a tad, but that's the Tigers' gain. And besides, his $38.3 million deal is still the largest per annum for a left-handed free agent.
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You'd think stretching for a free agent prize might be out of the Tigers' realm. Then again, memories are short, and baseball's bean counters seem to like it this way.
This is a franchise that once extended future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander on a $202 million deal and also fellow Cooperstown lock Miguel Cabrera on a $292 million pact. Amid all that, they saw fit to sign free agent pitcher Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million deal.
$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$700,000,000: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-33)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$500,000,000: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (2026-39)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$426.5 million: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (2019-2030)* includes extension" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$365 million: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (2020-32)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$360 million: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (2023-2031)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$350 million: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres (2023-33)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$341 million: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (2022-31)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$340 million: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres (2021-34)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$330,000,000: Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies (2019-31)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$325 million: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (2015-2027) – traded to New York Yankees in 2017" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$325 million: Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (2022-31)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$325,000,000: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-35)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$313.5 million: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (2024-33) - traded to San Francisco Giants in 2025" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$300 million: Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (2023-33)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$292 million: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (2014-2023)* includes extension" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$288,777,777: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (2024-34)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$280 million: Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres (2023-33)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$275 million: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (2008-2017)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$260 million: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies (2019-26) - traded to St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, traded to Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$252,000,000: Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers (2001-10)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$245 million: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals (2020-26)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$245 million: Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels (2020-26)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$240,000,000: Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers (2026-29)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$240 million: Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels (2012-2021)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$240 million: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners (2014-2023) – traded to New York Mets in 2019" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$225 million: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2012-2021)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$217 million: David Price, Boston Red Sox (2016-2022) – traded to Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$215 million: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-2020)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$215 million: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (2020-28)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$214 million: Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers (2012-2020) – traded to Texas Rangers in 2013" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$212 million: Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves (2023-32)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$210 million: Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks (2025-30)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$210 million: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals (2015-2021)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$209.3 million: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners (2023-34)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$206.5 million: Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks (2016-2021) – traded to Houston Astros in 2019" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
$200 million: Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins (2023-28) - traded to Houston Astros in 2025" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> MLB's $200+ million contracts
$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)
That came in November 2015. Have baseball's revenues increased since then? (Don't answer that).
That money spends well in the Central, where the biggest-market team (Chicago) has never spent more than $75 million on a free agent, where Cleveland likes to pretend any star unwilling to sign a below-market extension must hit the trading block after three years, where Kansas City will nip around the edges until strong-arming any municipality that will have them into a new ballpark, where Minnesota takes on new investors and rotates family members as "control people" as if it doesn't have the greatest ballpark in the division.
No, opportunity is ripe and as we know, consistent access to the playoffs is the most important piece to winning a World Series. Signing Valdez - who can opt out of his deal after the 2027 season - and pairing him with Skubal almost guarantees the Tigers an October ticket, and a favorable set-up when they get there.
Even if it's just one year, what an opportunity. And the Tigers can always come back and reassemble after Skubal leaves. The door should still be left wide open.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tigers' Framber Valdez-Tarik Skubal duo equals World Series contention
