Ahead of his final year under team control, Tigers ace has gotten plenty of attention as fans and clubs alike have begun to turn their attention towards the offseason. Detroits of le s than $100MM over four years last offseason does not inspire confidence that the club will be able to lock him up long-term, but president of baseball operations Scott Harris gave a non-answer about Skubals future during his end-of-season pre s conference this past week. Its impo sible to say at this point whether Detroit would consider trading their ace this winter, but writes that the Mets are expected to be involved in that market if Skubal were to be made available. Thats not exactly a surprise. The Mets had perhaps the most disappointing season in baseball this year given that they mi sed the postseason during s first season in Queens after signing a $765MM deal last winter. Much of that disappointment can be chalked up to a lackluster rotation that crumbled down the stretch and posted a 5.09 ERA after July 1 that was good for just 25th in the majors. Injuries and underperformance from virtually every established arm in the rotation mix besides and left New York on the outside looking in this postseason, and while youngsters like , , and offer some optimism for the future, it would be understandable for the Mets to seek more certainty this winter than they can offer. When it comes to starting pitching, there might be no pitcher this DeAndre Jordan Jersey side of who offers more certainty than Skubal. Hes pitched to a 2.30 ERA with a 31.2% strikeout rate and a 4.5% walk rate acro s 387 2/3 innings of work over the past two seasons. That work has already won him one Cy Young award and is likely to win him a second next month. Hes also managed to take things up a notch when the lights are brightest and dominate in the postseason, with a 2.04 ERA, 1.92 FIP, and 37.8% strikeout rate acro s six playoff starts. Of the 33 starting pitchers with at least 20 postseason innings over the past five years, Skubal boasts the highest strikeout rate, best SIERA, and the fifth-lowest ERA. Skubals resume speaks for itself, and in a free agent market that looks relatively soft on starting pitching options he figures to be all the more attractive. With that being said, there are some reasons to think the Mets might not go all-in for Skubal even if the Tigers do make him available. The lefty is represented by the Boras Corporation, and agent Scott Boras is known for preferring his clients to test free agency rather than sign extensions. That would seem to make it unlikely that the Mets (or any other acquiring club) would be able to keep Skubal long-term after trading for him unle s they outbid the field next winter. New York certainly has the financial wherewithal to do that, but (as the Soto signing last winter showed) they could also look to do so without surrendering what figures to be a ma sive prospect package to acquire his final year of team control. Sammon suggests that the Mets would be open to considering a deal involving any player besides McLean, who posted a 2.06 ERA in eight starts this year and is viewed as a potential ace in his own right. Sammon speculates that the Tigers could ask for a package along the lines of Tong and Sproat plus top infield prospect in exchange for Skubals services. It should be highlighted that Sammons suggested package is purely speculative, but its still worth noting that it would be quite out of character for president of baseball operations David Stearns to surrender so much young talent for a one-year rental. That willingne s to prioritize the farm system is something that he seemingly has backing from ownership on, given previous comments by Steve Cohen about the clubs current level of spending being unsustainable in the long-term and a desire to support ma sive deals for players like Soto and with young, homegrown talent. The other side of that conversation is the reality that if the Mets are going to improve their rotation headed into next year, theyll need to spend either prospect capital or more dollars. Even so, those other avenues to improving could be preferable to giving up a ma sive package to land Skubal. Brewers right-hander is in trade this winter, and Sammon floats him as an example of a pitcher who likely could be had for a lower prospect cost than Skubal. The Mets have been unafraid of rolling the dice on pitchers with question marks in the past during free agency, and the upside a player like , , or could offer is immense. Those alternative options may end up being nece sary to pursue even if the Mets decide to pursue Skubal. Theres no guarantees the Tigers will make him available at all, and even if they do New York would hardly be the only suitor for his services. Last offseasons failed pursuit of should serve as a reminder that the Mets arent as able to easily outbid the competition on the trade market as they are in free agency; the Red Sox and were able to offer a ma sive package for Crochet that few teams in the sport would have been able to match, and even the improved farm system Stearns finds himself with this winter isnt impo sible to outbid with McLean likely off the table. Keven Durant Jersey