The Los Angeles Dodgers may not go all-out in an attempt to re-sign Tarik Skubal before a potential lockout begins amidst CBA negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA, which could be of note for the New York Mets.
Following a sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, the Dodgers will now regroup after watching their hopes of a three-peat fall by the wayside.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez wrote about the biggest questions facing each team that’s been eliminated from the postseason up to this point, and in doing so he predicted that Los Angeles will not ink Skubal to a massive new deal ahead of the lockout.
“The Dodgers won’t sign Skubal to a mega extension … before Dec. 1.,” Gonzalez wrote. “Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, will probably want to get something done with his client before the lockout, but it would be really difficult for the Dodgers to justify signing Skubal to a massive deal before knowing what MLB’s economic model will look like. If there is a cap-and-floor system in the next collective bargaining agreement, there will be some sort of phase-in period. But it will undoubtedly impact the Dodgers in the near future. It would be a major risk to sign Skubal before knowing what they’re signing up for.”
As Gonzalez noted, the possible implementation of a salary cap/floor in the new CBA could impact the Dodgers quite significantly, even with a “phase-in period,” and the same could be said for the Mets.
Skubal, who was dealt to Los Angeles by the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Ryder Ryan, Zyhir Hope and Brady Smith ahead of the August 3 trade deadline, will be the top free agent available this offseason.
The 29-year-old left-hander is one of the league’s elite starting pitchers, having won the AL Cy Young Award in both 2024 and 2025 before posting a 2.72 ERA over 26 starts and 158 2/3 innings between the Dodgers and Tigers this season. Skubal also allowed three earned runs in 11 postseason frames for Los Angeles.
Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
The Mets, who need a frontline starter to pair with Nolan McLean, are a potential suitor for Skubal. SNY’s Chelsea Janes wrote that the consensus within the Mets organization is that if owner Steven Cohen ultimately decides he wants to sign Skubal, he’s willing to dish out whatever amount of money it takes to bring him to New York. The main question, though, is whether or not he wants to be a Met.
“Whether Skubal wants to be a mentor, or the pressure that comes with being the Mets’ latest highly paid savior, or the scrutiny of pitching in New York after thriving as one of many stars in Los Angeles, is the biggest variable of all,” Janes wrote. “The general consensus among those in the Mets organization and those who deal with Stearns’ front office regularly seems to be that if Cohen decides he wants Skubal, the Mets will pay whatever it takes to get him. So trying to predict whether Skubal will be a Met next year, then, might be as simple as whether Skubal wants them.”
As mentioned earlier, the Mets would be among the clubs most impacted by a salary cap being introduced to MLB since they’re currently projected to have the second-largest year-end 40-man payroll in the league for the 2027 season at $265.9 million, which is only behind the Dodgers at $366.0 million (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts as of October 4, 2026).
There will certainly be a grace period of sorts, however, and perhaps New York is willing to make a splash for a bona fide ace in Skubal. Handing out long-term contracts to starting pitchers is not something president of baseball operations David Stearns has done since taking over that role in September 2023, though, and it remains to be seen whether or not Skubal will be an exception in that regard.
