Seattle University Professional Athletes

Seattle U's Skubal Is the Hottest Name in Baseball This Offseason

Tarik Skubal's postseason run is over. The bidding war for his services is just getting started.

The Seattle University product and two-time Cy Young Award winner made one start for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2026 NLCS — a respectable five innings, seven strikeouts, and two earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers on October 12 — before the Dodgers were swept in four games, ending their bid for a third straight World Series title. Now Skubal walks into free agency as the most coveted arm in baseball, with projections ranging from $360 million to $400 million and a line of suitors stretching from the Bronx to the Bay.

The Dodgers had acquired Skubal at the trade deadline from the Detroit Tigers, betting his left arm could anchor a rotation worthy of a three-peat. It wasn't enough. Milwaukee dispatched Los Angeles in dominant fashion, making the Brewers the first team to beat the Dodgers in the playoffs in three years. For Skubal, the exit was frustrating but measured. Speaking after the series-ending loss, he kept his comments about free agency brief — acknowledging only how difficult winning at baseball's highest level truly is. "So hard to win," he said, per Bleacher Report.

The reluctance to look ahead is understandable. The moment he does, the circus begins in earnest.

The Market

Projections are aggressive — and analysts say they're realistic. CBS Sports noted that Skubal's market is complicated by looming CBA negotiations, with a potential MLB lockout injecting uncertainty into an already chaotic offseason. The Sporting News called a $360 million deal "very realistic" given his age, durability, and back-to-back Cy Young pedigree. Heavy Sports reported the Mets — flush with Steve Cohen money — are eyeing a figure as high as $400 million.

Bleacher Report ranked five potential landing spots for Skubal, and the list extends well beyond the Dodgers. Heavy Sports identified an NL West rival as a predicted destination, while a separate report flagged the Dodgers' crosstown rivals as a credible threat in the sweepstakes. Detroit, the team that developed him, hasn't been ruled out — a Sports Illustrated report noted that a Dodgers re-signing prediction actually gives the Tigers hope for a reunion, though they'd face steep competition and a steeper price tag.

The Dodgers, for their part, aren't conceding. Teammate Blake Snell sent Skubal a four-word message after the playoff exit and has made a direct recruiting pitch, per Sports Illustrated — urging the lefty to stay in Los Angeles. It's a long winter of lobbying ahead.

What It Means for Seattle U

Skubal's emergence as the premier free-agent pitcher in baseball is a remarkable marker for a program not typically associated with MLB pipeline production. The Redhawks' alum hasn't just carved out a career — he's reshaped what the position looks like in the modern game. Whatever uniform he wears in 2027, the price tag alone will stand as a testament to that.

For Seattle University fans, the next few months are worth watching closely. The contract Skubal signs this winter will almost certainly be the largest ever by a Redhawk alumnus — possibly by a very wide margin.

Skubal Announces Himself in October

Tarik Skubal didn't need long to make his postseason statement. The Seattle University product took the ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and delivered exactly what a championship-caliber team asks of its ace: six innings, seven strikeouts, one earned run in a 5-3 Dodgers win.

The outing carried extra weight beyond the box score. Skubal arrived in Los Angeles via a blockbuster trade deadline deal from the Detroit Tigers — a team that had never given him a postseason stage despite back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards. The Dodgers handed him that stage on the first available opportunity, and he made it count, logging a 1.50 ERA in his playoff debut.

For Tigers fans, it was a gut-punch made worse by how clean the performance looked. For Dodgers fans riding the wave of a potential third consecutive World Series title, it was confirmation that the trade was worth every piece.

Skubal finished the combined regular season 12-7 with a 2.61 ERA across 16 starts with Detroit and 10 with Los Angeles, striking out 70 in 62 innings as a Dodger while walking just 13. The Dodgers won 100 games and earned a first-round bye — Skubal was a central reason why.

The Offseason Looming Behind Every Start

Even as Skubal locks in for a postseason run, the industry can't stop talking about what comes next. He's a pending free agent, and the contract projections are staggering. Insiders have floated figures ranging from $355 million to $400 million, with the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers themselves all identified as potential suitors.

The Mets have been particularly vocal — or at least their interest has been loudly speculated — with analysts pointing to New York's need for a true staff ace and owner Steve Cohen's financial firepower as reasons to take their pursuit seriously. The Sporting News has outlined a path for the Mets to hold a competitive advantage over even the Dodgers in those negotiations, though nothing is close to settled.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have been floated as a $400 million dark horse. Whether any of that materializes depends largely on what Skubal does between now and a potential World Series ring — performances like Saturday's Game 1 start only drive the price higher.

For now, Skubal says his focus is on winning in October. Given the way he pitched against Atlanta, the rest of the league has good reason to be worried about that goal being achieved.

Also Noteworthy: Junk Gets His Work In

Down in Miami, fellow Seattle U alum Janson Junk made his own quiet contribution to the final week of the regular season. The Marlins right-hander went 4.2 innings against Atlanta on September 27, allowing one earned run while striking out five in a 5-3 Marlins win. It's a solid outing in a lost season for a Miami club already in offseason planning mode — but Junk showed enough to remain a name worth tracking heading into 2026.

The headline, though, belongs entirely to Skubal. A Seattle U alum is starting playoff games for the defending World Series champions, pitching for a contract that could approach nine figures annually. Not a bad week for the Redhawks' MLB alumni file.

When Tarik Skubal takes the mound in October, Seattle University will have its most compelling postseason storyline in MLB history. The Dodgers left-hander closed out his regular season with a statement: seven scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts, three hits allowed, and just 75 pitches against the San Francisco Giants on Friday — a performance so efficient it looked less like a tune-up than a warning shot to the rest of the playoff field.

The numbers behind that outing are staggering. Skubal finished the regular season with a 2.72 ERA and a 3.06 xERA over 158⅔ innings — elite marks for any pitcher, let alone one who was traded midseason. The Dodgers acquired him from Detroit on August 2, and in 10 starts with Los Angeles, he's given the reigning World Series champions the true ace they needed at the front of a postseason rotation.

The Week in Full

Skubal's final week wasn't without turbulence. On Sunday, September 20, he had his worst outing of the year against San Francisco — five innings, four earned runs, three strikeouts — in a game the Dodgers still won 10-4. He was visibly frustrated in the dugout afterward, a moment that went viral, though Skubal later explained the outburst as simple self-accountability. The rough outing was bookended by his Giants-series masterpiece five days later, underscoring just how quickly he recalibrated.

He'd also returned earlier in the week from the bereavement list, activated Wednesday with his Friday start already penciled in. The quick turnaround made the seven-inning gem all the more impressive.

The Offseason Elephant in the Room

Skubal is a free agent after this season, and the financial projections are eye-popping. Multiple insiders have pegged his market value at close to $500 million, with the Dodgers predicted to win what figures to be the most expensive pitching sweepstakes in baseball history — potentially a decade-long deal. For context: that would make him one of the highest-paid players in MLB history.

The Dodgers' incentive to retain him is obvious. The Tigers traded him knowing they were moving a generational arm; Los Angeles is now in a position to lock him up before any rival gets involved. The question isn't whether Skubal gets a historic contract — it's whether he signs it before or after lifting another World Series trophy.

Also in the Brief

Janson Junk, the Redhawks' other active MLB arm, had a quietly solid week for the Miami Marlins. The right-hander went five innings and struck out six in an 8-2 Marlins win over the Cubs on Tuesday, keeping a respectable 4.31 ERA intact for a Miami team with little postseason relevance. It's a steadying performance for a career reliever-turned-spot-starter navigating a rebuild.

For Seattle U, though, this week belongs entirely to Skubal. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has turned the final weeks of the regular season into a showcase — and October hasn't even started yet.