The Tigers and superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal have a lot of work to do if they’re going to bridge quite possibly the biggest gap in MLB negotiating history: an estimated quarter of a billion dollars.

Yep, that’s not a misprint. It’s close to $250 million.

Word is, a year ago the Tigers offered Skubal well less than the $170M deal signed a bit later by Garrett Crochet. While there’s no belief Skubal named his price, his obvious comp is Gerrit Cole, who signed six years ago for a record $324M, and with prices up (Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander $43.33M a year, Juan Soto $51M), the baseline ask for Skubal is seen as $400M.

igers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) reacts after striking out Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

The equation has changed, as Skubal is now only one season from free agency after putting together a second straight Cy Young season. He led the AL in ERA (2.21) and pitching WAR (6.6) and was second to Crochet in strikeouts (241).