Tarik Skubal’s free agency case gets tough warning after injury

TL;DR

Tarik Skubal, a top MLB pitcher, faces a challenging free agency after suffering an arm injury that will sideline him for several months. Despite the setback, his free agency prospects remain strong if he maintains his pre-injury performance.

Key points

Tarik Skubal is a top MLB pitcher.
He will miss several months due to an arm injury.
His free agency prospects remain strong if he performs well post-injury.

Major League BaseballTarik Skubal

Tarik Skubal’s free agency case gets tough warning after injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's always tough when a starter of Tarik Skubal's caliber goes down with an arm injury. Skubal, clearly the best pitcher in Major League Baseball at the moment, will miss at least a few months, according to reports.

It's tough that he's going through this for many reasons, though perhaps the biggest one is the fact that he was a prime trade candidate and was due for likely the biggest contract in Major League Baseball history for a starting pitcher.

While the future of the left-hander is now in question, at least a bit, it doesn't sound like it will have too much of an impact on his free agency, as long as he continues to throw the baseball at the level he did prior to this injury.

“Another AL executive noted that loose bodies can sometimes be a sign of ligament damage in the elbow, later leading to Tommy John surgery. As long as Skubal returns without incident, this latest injury shouldn’t be a huge factor in his free agency as long as he can come back and show he’s healthy before the end of the season,” Mark Feinsand of MLB.com wrote.

I would hope that if Skubal has any ligament problems in his elbow, they would be figured out by now.

If it isn't, that's something the Tigers will have to deal with, and it could benefit them if he doesn't return at the level they're hoping for right away.