ORLANDO — As rumors and made-up trade scenarios involving two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal swirl around these Winter Meetings, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris steadfastly refused to feed the frenzy.

“We don’t speculate on any players on our roster on trade talk,” Harris said in a 40-minute session with a group of beat reporters in the club’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria. “It’s not productive for us and it’s not fair to players on other teams.”

He did, though, acknowledge publicly that while he wasn’t necessarily seeking trade options, he was openly listening to them.

“I’ve been pretty clear since I’ve been here that I don’t believe in untouchables at any level or with anyone in our organization,” Harris said. “It’s not a commentary on Tarik Skubal specifically. It’s more of a blanket team-building approach. I can’t do my job without listening. I can’t do my job without exploring anything that may or may not have legs.

“Some are going to be very likely moves. Some are going to be extremely unlikely. But you can’t vet those opportunities unless you listen. That’s how we’re doing it.”

Harris, who officially announced the signing of 31-year-old right-hander Drew Anderson ($7 million with a $10 million club option for 2027), reiterated his desire to add pitching help, both in the rotation and bullpen.

Anderson, who spent the last two seasons in Korea, was in Tigers camp as a non-roster invitee before the 2024 season.

“He made a really good impression,” Harris said. “I think he worked really well with our pitching group and added some fastball velocity and fastball quality that he carried to Korea.”

Anderson added a swing-and-miss component to his repertoire last season, a kick-change, and struck out 245 hitters, second only to Cody Ponce, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Blue Jays.

“We feel like with the added swing-and-miss secondary pitch and the familiarity and combination of innings, he can be a real addition to our team,” Harris said. “He will come to camp as a starter.”

He joins Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Troy Melton, Keider Montero and Reese Olson in the rotation. Expect the list to grow throughout the winter.

“In the modern era, you need to attack it with quality and volume,” Harris said. “You can’t just chose between the two. In December, we’re generally just trying to add as much pitching as we possibly can, trusting that we’re going to figure it out in partnership with AJ (Hinch, manager).

“We’re just trying to load up on as much pitching as possible, understanding there’s going to be underperformance and, hopefully not, but injuries are a reality in our sport.”

No splash deals?

The Tigers have been linked in media speculation to high-end free agent starters like Ranger Suarez and Michael King. Harris said the club is always looking to add starters, but he talked more about loading up on depth than making any splash deals.

“It’s harder now given the makeup of our rotation,” Harris said. “Those starting pitchers might have to be optionable (have minor-league options). We may have to find non-roster options, things like that. But I think we are in a much healthier place with our rotation than we have been.

“But we’re going to keep adding.”

Same is true for the bullpen. There could be as many as seven spots open for competition this spring. Harris expects that particular market to lag into the new year.

External offensive upgrades?

Harris was also asked if it was necessary to look outside the organization to upgrade the offense.

“Yes,” he said. “But can we find those opportunities? I’m not sure.”

He went on to add, “I think the majority of our growth as an offense is going to come from within.”

In other words, if the right deal can be made for a legitimate offensive upgrade, either through trade or free agency, he will make it. But he expects the offense to get better with or without it.

“We have a young, deep collection of position players who are in slightly different stages of their young careers,” he said. “There is an older group that’s still very young and just entering their prime.”

Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, who combined for 93 homers and 241 RBI last season, highlight that group.

“There is a group behind them that’s coming really fast and that’s gotten a lot of time under their belt,” Harris said.

That group includes Gold Glove-winning catcher Dillon Dingler, Parker Meadows, Colt Keith and Wenceel Perez.

“And there is a third group coming right behind them,” Harris said. “Some of the best prospects in baseball are really starting to make that leap into the big leagues.”

Among the prospects he’s referencing are Kevin McGonigle, Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee.

“We’re going to find a way to improve our offense without blocking those guys,” Harris said. “They are too important to both our present and our future. I used to talk about them solely as our future. Now they are about to be our present and our future.”

Harris also cited the return of second baseman Gleyber Torres and a hopefully healthy Matt Vierling as other components of an improved offense.

“I wouldn’t rule out external additions to upgrade the offense,” he said. “But I think we have a lot of momentum here and the gains we’ve seen in our offense the last couple of years have come from trusting them and saving opportunity for them and watching them blossom into the players they are now.”

DETROIT – The Tigers Friday avoided arbitration with three players and tendered contracts to eight other arbitration-eligible players.

The one casualty, utility infielder Andy Ibanez, a vital right-handed hitting option off the bench the last three seasons, was not tendered a contract and is now a free agent.

That move was foreshadowed earlier in the week when second baseman Gleyber Torres accepted the $22 million qualifying offer to return to the Tigers in 2026. Ibanez, entering his age-33 season, not only lost playing time at second base, he also lost at-bats against left-handed pitching to Jahmai Jones last season.

The non-tender writing was on the wall.

Ibanez’s pinch-hit, three-run double off Houston’s Josh Hader in Game 2 of the wild card series in 2024 secured the Tigers’ first playoff series win since 2013. In three seasons he slashed .251/.304/.392 with a .696 OPS.

The Tigers came to one-year contract agreements with utility player Matt Vierling ($3.255 million), catcher Jake Rogers ($3.05 million) and right-handed reliever Beau Brieske ($1.157 million).

Players who were tendered but not signed were: pitchers Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Will Vest and Tyler Holton; outfielders Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter; and infielders Zach McKinstry and Spencer Torkelson.

The Tigers have until Jan. 8 to negotiate with those players. On Jan. 8, both sides have to exchange salary figures ahead of arbitration hearings that begin in February. The Tigers have had only one player (Michael Fulmer in 2019) take them to arbitration since 2001.

In addition, six players, all relievers, whom the Tigers designated for assignment earlier in the week, were also procedurally non-tendered: Sean Guenther, Jason Foley, Duggan Darnell, Jack Little, Tyler Mattison and Tanner Rainey.

Those players, no longer on the 40-man roster, but can now negotiate minor-league deals with the Tigers without going through the waiver process.

The Tigers have 39 players currently on their 40-man roster.

DETROIT — The issue came up again during Tarik Skubal’s post-Cy Young Award media teleconference Wednesday night.

Not that issue.

Of course, he was asked about his future with the Tigers and he said what he has said all along: He loves being a Tiger. He hopes he can be a Tiger for a long time. But the ultimate decision is largely out of his control.

But that’s not the issue we’re talking about here.

If there is one loose thread that still needs to be secured from the 2025 season, one topic that keeps coming up in media and fan debates, it’s manager AJ Hinch’s decision to pull Skubal after the sixth inning of the season-ending, 15-inning loss in Seattle in Game 5 of the American League Division Series.

To review:

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth on Kerry Carpenter’s clutch, left-on-left homer off reliever Gabe Speier. And Skubal was cruising. He set down 14 straight Mariners hitters from the second through the sixth, punching out 10 of them including seven in a row in one stretch.

In the sixth, as his pitch count pushed toward 100, he struck out J.P. Crawford with a 99.7-mph heater and finished the inning with a three-pitch punch-out of Cal Raleigh — 99.7, 99.1 and 100.9 mph on his 99th and final pitch.

But the seeds for the decision to pull him at that point were planted an inning earlier, as Hinch explained after the game.

“Easy decision,” Hinch said. “After the fifth, I checked in on him how he was doing physically and emotionally, and we both knew that he had one (inning) left. You know, he emptied his tank and obviously was emotional coming off the mound, and I think that signals exactly where we were in the game.

“He gave us everything he could.”

The Mariners tied the game in the bottom of the seventh against relievers Kyle Finnegan and Tyler Holton and ultimately won it on a walk-off single by Jorge Polanco in the 15th inning.

By that time, Skubal had been out of the game for nine innings. And by the time he addressed the media post-game, the sixth-inning decision was buried beneath the rubble of the heartbreaking ending.

Wednesday night was the first time he talked in depth about that decision and, as usual, he provided some much-needed insight and clarity.

“That was the decision that was made and me and AJ are always on the same page,” he said. “I really respect everything that he does. He’s got a plan for everything. Trust me, I’ve seen a lot of the stuff about how the fans were disappointed or whatever. But it’s just the way the game of baseball is.”

Skubal took the mound in the sixth inning knowing it was going to be his last. And accordingly, he went full-throttle. The 100.9-mph fastball that he blew by Raleigh was pitch 99 of the game and career-high pitch 3,152 of the season.

It came in his career-high 216th inning.

While it may look like you’re watching a video game when Skubal is dominating like that, he’s still a human being. And, as he intimated, he was pitching through some aches and pains.

“The season will run you down a little bit,” he said Wednesday.

But there was a baseball strategy component to the decision that trumped whatever fatigue issues Skubal might’ve been dealing with. Due up for the Mariners in the bottom of the seventh inning that night were right-handed hitters Julio Rodriguez, Polanco and Eugenio Suarez.

Polanco’s presence probably sealed the decision. You might remember, Polanco homered twice off Skubal in Game 2 and seemed to be seeing his pitches as well as any Mariners hitter.

“The way the at-bats had gone with Polanco, even earlier in that game he hit a foul-ball homer,” Skubal said. “I just don’t think that matchup was going to be in the cards that night.”

As it turned out, Finnegan walked Polanco and gave up a two-out single to Josh Naylor, which set the table for pinch-hitter Leo Rivas’ game-tying single off Holton.

“Look, I’m going to go out and compete and give it everything I have,” Skubal said. “I knew my outing was coming to a close there with Polanco looming. Hindsight is 20-20. If you could write a perfect script, we obviously would go do that. I would love to throw 300 pitches every time out. I just don’t know if that’s realistic. Especially in that setting with the lead and nine outs to go.

“I trust our guys in the bullpen 10 out of 10 times to end a game like that.”

That sixth inning decision is fun to debate. But it was well thought-out, logical and on-brand for how Hinch managed all season. It was mutually agreed upon and hardly fatal. If you are looking to point fingers, scoring in just one of 15 innings, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position (0 for 6 in extra innings) and leaving 10 runners on base is more the culprit.

“We played in one of the best win-or-go-home games in baseball history,” Skubal said. “We came out the wrong side of that. But at the same time, I thought everybody competed and left it all out there, including myself. As an athlete, that’s all you really can do.”

No more loose threads.

DETROIT — The appetizer portion of Tarik Skubal’s offseason is just about over.

With the main course — likely his second straight American League Cy Young Award — coming in a little over a week, Skubal has nibbled on a pair of honors this week.

On Wednesday, he won the MLBPA Players’ Choice Award for the most outstanding pitcher in the American League. And on Thursday, in a vote of the Detroit Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Skubal was named Tiger of the Year for the second straight season.

Skubal received 20 of 23 votes, with Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Kerry Carpenter each receiving one vote.

This one was a no-brainer.

Skubal led the American League in 12 different statistical categories this season, including WAR (6.6), WHIP (0.891), strikeout-walk ratio (7.3) and was second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.1).

“He’s just a complete bulldog out there,” said Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who is favored to win the National League Cy Young Award. “You talk about predator versus prey, he’s the predator. Always attacking, just attacking the strike zone with his stuff. Obviously, it’s really good stuff and, you know, he trusts it.”

Skubal’s plus-51 run value ranks in the top percentile in baseball. In 31 regular-season starts (195.1 innings), he limited hitters to a .200 average and a sub-.600 OPS (.559), with a 32% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate.

And in three postseason starts, he allowed four runs in 20.2 innings with 36 strikeouts and four walks.

All of that is why he is expected, on Nov. 12, to become the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999-2000 to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards.

Around the horn

The Detroit Chapter of the BBWAA also named Spencer Torkelson as the recipient of the 2025 Good Guy Award, given to the player who best exemplifies a cooperative spirit with the beat writers who cover the team. In a clubhouse full of worthy recipients, Torkelson stood out especially during the team’s slide in the final two months of the regular season. He stood in front his locker after a lot of tough losses and never ducked a question.

… Per MLB transactions, the Tigers have re-signed veteran catcher Tomas Nido to a minor-league contract. Nido, 31, spent the entire 2025 season in the Tigers’ system, appearing in 10 games with the Tigers. He was also on the club’s postseason taxi squad.

DETROIT – There is nothing new on Tarik Skubal contract extension front. Nothing new was reported Thursday when MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reiterated the Tigers “non-competitive” initial extension offer – which happened roughly a year ago at this time when the Tigers had Skubal under control for two seasons.

And if the numbers that Heyman and others threw out there are accurate – four years, roughly $100 million – then that would have been the highest extension offered to a pitcher prior to free agency, topping Justin Verlander’s $80 million extension in 2010.

Skubal, through his representation (Scott Boras), rejected the offer last year. But that, by no means, represents the Tigers’ base offer going into this offseason. To say there is a $250 million gap is just a guess. It’s not based on anything real.

Nobody truly knows whether there have been any new negotiations. Neither side is saying anything publicly. But the leverage points are different now on both sides with Skubal entering his final year of team control.

Spotrac, an industry data base for contracts, payrolls and market values, projected an eight-year extension worth $300 million ($37.5 million annual salary).

That doesn’t mean that’s the number Boras is seeking. That doesn’t mean Boras would accept any extension offer. He generally prefers to take his high-end clients on to the open market where 30 teams can bid.

It makes good fodder for website clicks and talk radio discussion, but these numbers that are being thrown around, again, aren’t based in fact. Information leaked from agents comes with an agenda. They are generally trying to build a market for their clients.

If information leaks out from the team, someone might get fired. Tigers president Scott Harris steadfastly refuses to talk about contracts or trades even in the most general terms.

Here was his answer when I asked him if the club faced a decision point this offseason on Skubal.

“Listen, I totally understand the question, and I understand that you have to ask me,” he said. “I’ve kind of learned over time, especially with this question, that general comments tend to get chopped up and forced into narratives. I can’t comment on our players being traded. I can’t comment on free agents. And I can’t comment on other teams’ players.

“So I’m going to respond by just not actually commenting on it. Tarik is a Tiger. I hope he wins the Cy Young for the second consecutive year. He’s an incredible pitcher and we’re lucky to have him. That’s all I can say on that.”

Things were read into Skubal’s statement on the issue, too. He was asked about his future immediately after the Tigers lost Game 5 of the ALDS in Seattle.

“My job is to play,” he said. “(It’s) not my job to do anything other than play. Those questions should be asked toward the front office and the people that make those decisions. But my job is to go out there and play.”

He wasn’t implying anything. He was simply saying what is fundamentally true: These decisions and discussions are between the Tigers and his agent. It’s not his place or in his best interest to comment publicly.

Free agency starts the day after the World Series ends. Qualifying offers go out five days after the World Series. Nov. 21 is the deadline for tendering arbitration-eligible players.

Skubal, per estimates by MLB Trade Rumors, could get as much as $17.8 million if he went to arbitration.

That’s where this is right now and that’s where it’s been. Nothing has changed. The Tigers options, presuming there will be no extension, are to seek a trade for Skubal this winter or ride it out in 2026 and try to win a championship with him.

The time for the Tigers to get the maximum return in a trade would’ve been last winter when he had two years of control left. Getting the same yield on a player with one guaranteed season left, even one as dominant as Skubal, is unlikely.

Trading him in-season, unless the team falls out of playoff contention, is sub-optimal, as well.

The Tigers traded Verlander at the trade deadline in 2017 and got Jake Rogers as part of the return package. The other prospects didn’t pan out. They lost Max Scherzer to free agency in 2015, getting a compensatory draft pick that ended up being Christin Stewart.

Anything can still happen. All scenarios are open. But nothing to this point has happened.

DETROIT — Remember when reports surfaced late in September saying the Tigers and manager AJ Hinch were nearing an agreement on a contract extension?

“Those reports were baseless,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday with a wry smile.

They were baseless because Hinch and the Tigers agreed on a contract extension at midseason. They just didn’t announce it.

“I absolutely love working with AJ,” Harris said, during the team’s season-ending media conference at Comerica Park. “He’s one of the best managers in the game. We have now proactively extended him twice because we want him to be here as long as he willing to be here and I want to work with him as long as I possibly can.

“It was one of the easiest conversations I’ve had because he wants to be here and we’re both bullish on the future of this organization and we are proud of what we’ve done.”

The Tigers, as per organizational policy, don’t make public the contract terms for the manager or coaching staff.

Hinch, 51, ranks eighth on the Tigers’ all-time managerial wins list with 394 in five seasons. He’s guided the team to the playoffs and eight postseasons wins over the last two years.

“I love it here and I love working with Scott,” Hinch said. “This was the second time I was approached and asked for more and it’s an immediate yes for me. When you have an environment that both pushes you and satisfies you, I was thrilled.”

Once he got the OK from his wife and family, he signed the deal. With one stipulation: that it wouldn’t be made public during the season.

“It’s hard to look at where you are personally in the middle of the season,” he said. “Which is why my one request and Scott’s one request was that we just do it and not talk about it. It’s about the players during the season, it’s about winning and we had a lot of games left.

“We didn’t want to be a distraction.”

Hinch and his family have been growing roots in the Detroit area over the last three years, since Harris signed him to the first extension before the 2023 season.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be the manager of the Tigers,” he said. “It’s a rewarding place to be. We’ve bought a home here. We live here the majority of the year and we continue to become more and more Michiganders as a family.

“I am grateful for Chris (Ilitch, chairman and CEO), for Scott, for Jeff (Greenberg, general manager). All of us are on board to bring a World Series here. That’s why I want to be here.”

Hinch said there would be discussions later this week about his coaching staff. It’s possible there will be some changes.

“We evaluate every possibly way we can get better,” he said. “I think our staff answered a whole lot of the challenges we’ve been given and all of that is in a really good place. But we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t debrief about our entire group.

“But I am really proud of this group of coaches and the culture we’ve created.”

DETROIT — Maybe this will be therapeutic in the wake of that soul-crushing, 15-inning, Game 5 loss in Seattle on Friday night. Spin the highlight reel:

• April 4, home opener: Kerry Carpenter thrills the sellout crowd with two home runs against the White Sox.

• April 8: Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler all homer in the fourth inning against Yankees starter Carlos Corrasco in a 5-0 win.

• May 2 in Anaheim: Riley Greene makes history, becoming the first player ever to homer twice in the ninth inning. Colt Keith and Javier Báez also homer in that eight-run ninth.

• May 8: The Tigers finish a 10-game road trip exploding for 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep in Colorado. They score 79 runs in the 10 games, second most in franchise history and at 25-13, establish their best start since 2014 and own the best record in baseball

• May 9: Finally home, Tarik Skubal strikes out 12 Texas Ranger hitters, getting a club-record 32 swings-and-misses in seven innings.

• May 12: They respond to their first home series loss of the year by scoring nine runs in the third inning against Boston and starter Tanner Houck in a 14-2 win. They have accrued 228 runs in 42 games, their most since 2007.

• May 13: Again against the Red Sox, Báez homers twice including a three-run walk-off in the 11th inning after Boston scored twice in the top of the 11th.

Remember all these good times?

• May 25: After losing a heartbreaker to the Guardians the night before, Skubal puts the team on his back, throwing a complete-game shutout in 94 pitches — a Maddux, in other words. But the first ever Maddux with a 13-strikeout exclamation point.

• June 2 in Chicago: Carpenter continues his assault on White Sox pitching, whacking three homers, becoming the first Tiger to homer three times in a game since Victor Martinez in 2016.

We had some fun, right? Watching the Tigers become the first team in baseball to win 30 games, first to win 40, first to win 50, first to win 60. Watching them run the bases like demons, going first to third more times, and with a higher rate of success, than any other team, led by McKinstry’s 74% extra-bases taken percentage.

Watching Greene and Torkelson racing toward 20 and then 30 home runs. Seeing Greene tap into his light-tower power — the 471-footer he hit over the batter’s eye in Sacramento and the 454-foot rocket he hit in Game 5 of the ALDS.

Seeing Greene stamp his place in Tigers history, joining Hank Greenberg as the only Tigers to amass 31 doubles, 36 homers and 111 RBIs at age 24 or younger.

Watching Wenceel Perez throw out two Oakland runners at second base in the same game on June 24. Watching him again a few days later in Cleveland, fire a 97.9-mph seed to the plate to throw out Bo Naylor in a 2-1 Tigers’ win.

Watching Báez, the Gold Glove shortstop, make one sensational play after another in center field, filling in while Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling were injured.

Having six players selected to the All-Star game as they amassed 59 wins at the break.

Watching Skubal take his performance level a step higher after winning his first Cy Young Award last year. Watching Casey Mize reinvent himself as more of a power pitcher, ripping 90-92 mph sliders and 90-mph splitters off 95-96 mph heaters. Watching Will Vest grow into an attack-dog leverage reliever. Watching rookie Troy Melton burst on the scene as both a starter and reliever.

Watching Dillon Dingler blossom right before our eyes, at the plate and behind it. It’s very rare for a team to lose its starting catcher in April and subsequently get better.

All that stuff happened. It’s just gotten buried under the rubble of a late-season swoon that cost them the division title and the heartbreak of Game 5. But it shouldn’t be dismissed.

“We are a good baseball team,” Skubal said. “We didn’t accomplish the trophy, but there’s a lot to be proud of and work off of.”

The Tigers season ended in the same place it did last year, with a Game 5 loss in the ALDS. The core of the team also took a step forward. Both things can be true.

“Even in the rough September, we took steps forward,” manager AJ Hinch said. “It’s not all about the record when you’re learning. Unfortunately, we put ourselves in harm’s way a little bit, but we battled back to get the win in Cleveland, to get the win in Boston, to get the series win in the wild card, to take this about as far as you can take a series.

“We are growing up.”

A friendly reminder that Keith is 24, Greene 25, Meadows 25, Perez 25, Torkelson 26, Dingler 27, and Carpenter 28, and none have more than two years of accumulated MLB service time.

“Based on last season, being able to get some experience in the postseason, it’s easy to forget how young we are and that we’re still learning,” Hinch said.

There’s still a lot of work to do, both individually and with the roster. President Scott Harris and his staff face a critical winter. There is going to be more internal growth, for sure, but it might be time to strengthen a few areas with proven, veteran talent.

As the bats went steadily quiet over the last month and through the playoffs, the need to look outside the organization for another run producer or two became acute.

Harris will also again be busy shopping for pitching, starters and relievers.

But those issues will be discussed in the weeks ahead.

For now, we put the 2025 season and all its manic highs and lows, all the massive accomplishments and biting disappointments, to bed.

“Our floor has been raised and we don’t know what our ceiling is,” Torkelson said. “We’re not satisfied making it to Game 5 of the ALDS. We want more. This stings, but we raised our floor and created a new standard of what it should be like.

“We need to keep it going.”

DETROIT – The Tigers activated veteran right-hander Paul Sewald before the game Thursday.

Sewald, whom the Tigers acquired from the Guardians at the trade deadline, had been out since July 11 with shoulder soreness. He returned from his final rehab appearance on Wednesday.

In corresponding moves, right-hander Codi Heuer was released off the 40-man roster. He has been out with a shoulder injury.

Also, right-hander Jose Urquidy was technically designated for assignment, but he has agreed to accept an option to Triple-A Toledo to stay in the organization.

Procedurally, there is a 24-hour wait period before that part of the transaction can be completed.

“He’s demonstrated the positives in what he can bring,” Hinch said. “He’s creative. He’s got multiple pitches. He is undeterred by any big environment. He’s got a weapon for both sides of the plate.

But we are also seeing the difficulty in coming back from a second major surgery. He’s a little rusty, a little erratic and spraying the ball a little more than he normally does.”

With five years of big-league service time, Urquidy could’ve refused the option. But, with the Tigers holding a $4 million option on him next season and his stated desire to be part of this staff going forward, he signed off on it.

DETROIT — Tarik Skubal is on track to make his scheduled start against the Guardians on Thursday, though manager AJ Hinch stopped short of saying it’s a done deal.

“We said we were going to go day by day and we have,” Hinch said before the game Tuesday against the Guardians. “He’s inching closer to his start day. Obviously we’re thrilled with the news that things were looking positive.”

Skubal on Monday threw his usual between-starts bullpen and felt none of the tightness in his upper rib cage area that forced him out of his start in Miami.

“Everything felt good,” Skubal said. “Just one of those weird things. I don’t really know how to explain it. But the bullpen went well, the scans came back good, so it’s on to the next one.”

He was asked if he held anything back in his bullpen session, just as a precaution.

“No, it was a normal working pen,” he said. “If anything, I probably worked a little harder just to make sure I was good to go. There was nothing there.”

Tigers Nation certainly gave a collective sigh of relief. Skubal, too.

“During the game, I was a little worried about it,” he said. “But once I came out and calmed down a little bit and ran through most of the tests with our trainers, I wasn’t too concerned after that.”

If the Tigers had taken care of business Tuesday (they lost in extra innings) and Wednesday, Skubal could have been on the mound with a chance to clinch the Central Division title Thursday.

“This series is going to be fun,” he said. “Cleveland is a good team and we tend to play good baseball games against each other. It starts (Tuesday) with Casey (Mize) and hopefully we win (Wednesday) with (Jack Flaherty) and hopefully sweep. That’s the division if the math works out. But it starts with (Tuesday), for sure.”

NEW YORK — The Detroit Tigers on Wednesday responded to an investigative article in The Athletic that detailed alleged incidents of sexual misconduct toward female employees and portrayed the organization as being a “boys club” where some women felt unsafe.

In a statement released through Ilitch Sports and Entertainment CEO Ryan Gustafson, the Tigers didn’t dispute the seven reported incidents against former employees. They took accountability for it, saying each was investigated promptly and each employee was terminated.

But the general culture of the organization, the club felt, was mischaracterized.

“We are committed to a culture of respect, safety, and inclusion,” the statement read. “We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment, and when concerns are raised, we investigate promptly and take decisive action, which has included terminating employees for misconduct, regardless of seniority or tenure.

“We are committed to accountability and to upholding the standards essential to our workplace.”

As the article mentioned, the seven employees cited for misconduct have either resigned, were fired or did not have their contracts renewed.

• Sam Menzin, former assistant general manager, cited for sending lewd photos to a female co-worker.

• Michael Lienert, former vice president of premium sales, accused of a number of things, including undisclosed dating of employees, bullying female employees, including an allegation of pushing a female down a flight of stairs.

• Josh Bullock, former vice president of business in Lakeland, cited for verbal and vulgar verbal attacks on men and women.

• Rob Gehring, former video content producer, cited for inappropriate conduct toward women.

• Peter Soto, former vice president of game presentation, accused of making inappropriate comments toward women.

• Also, former players and analysts Cameron Maybin and Craig Monroe were not brought back because of allegations of sexual misconduct.

More: Craig Monroe taken off Tigers’ TV minutes after sex-abuse claims came to light

“We are grateful to the employees who have spoken up here,” the statement read. “And to the more than 3,000 full- and part-time colleagues who contribute every day to ensuring a safe work environment.”

The Tigers contested one of the charges in the article, which claimed that Ben Fidelman, who is the vice president of communications and broadcasting, yelled at an employee and called her “stupid.”

The Tigers, like they did all the others, investigated the charges against Fidelman and found them unfounded.

“It is inaccurate and unfair to group Mr. Fidelman within a story about accusations of sexual harassment or related misconduct,” the statement read. “A concern unrelated to either was raised, and consistent with our process, it was investigated thoroughly, and no wrong doing was found.”

Ilitch Sports and Entertainment employs more than 3,000 people. The statement reiterated that each incident was taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and dealt with.

“We work hard every day to improve our workplace culture,” the statement read. “We encourage open dialogue and feedback, celebrate the contributions of our colleagues, and continue to invest in programs that support growth, well-being, and inclusion.

“Our colleagues have multiple channels to share input, supported by a strong human resources team that responds quickly to concerns. We also provide ongoing, company-wide training and education to prevent and address inappropriate behavior.”

The article also said Detroit is one of three MLB franchises that doesn’t offer maternity leave to pregnant employees. The Tigers were putting a 12-week maternity leave benefit in place before the article came out.

It is expected to be available before the end of the year.

DETROIT — He’s not ready to use the R word just yet.

But on Saturday, 37-year-old right-hander Alex Cobb notified the Tigers that he was going to shut it down for the remainder of the year and prepare to have a surgical procedure to alleviate the pain in his right hip.

“I’ve talked to some family about it and I can’t quite utter those words quite yet,” Cobb said of announcing his retirement. “Obviously, I realize that’s a big possibility.”

Cobb, who has valiantly tried to fight his way back from inflammation and pain in both his right and left hip all season, said he had his moment of clarity walking off the field Tuesday in Lehigh Valley, Pa.

After being shut down for seven days, he was scheduled to pitch two innings for the Toledo Mud Hens, his fourth Triple-A rehab outing. He made it through one.

“After the seven days I had off, I had a clear answer walking off the mound that it wasn’t going to work,” Cobb said. “I’d done everything I could and that was the best it was ever going to get and it wasn’t an acceptable product to put on the field or something where I could look to AJ (Hinch) or Scott (Harris) and tell them, ‘You can count on me.’”

Cobb talked to the media via zoom from his home in Arizona Saturday, his voice choking with emotion throughout. He was asked if he could take solace in the fact that he did everything humanly possible to get back — including getting multiple injections, platelet-based and steroidal.

“At some point I will,” he said. “I don’t have that right now. I’m disappointed. I knew with my mind the uphill battle I was going to have this year once I had (the inflammation) early in spring. But in my heart, I have envisioned being on the that mound pitching in the postseason and I just didn’t do it.

“It’s just been more of a gut punch not being able to do it and coming to that realization and knowing what comes next in my career and life.”

The next step, Cobb said, is to have a procedure called hip resurfacing. He had a more traditional surgery on his left hip in 2024.

“Guys who I’ve talked to who have had it, their eyes light up and they get a smile on their face,” Cobb said. “They say it’s the best thing you can ever do when you are in that type of pain and your hip isn’t working and you just want not to be in that pain and there is a solution.

“It’s very exciting to know that is going to be available to me.”

Cobb, who pitched 13 seasons in the big leagues and was an All Star in 2023, signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Tigers in the offseason and went through his normal offseason training regimen without even a hint of an injury.

“Working out, throwing, I had zero pain,” he said. “I signed with the Tigers, passed the physical, everything looked great. Three or four weeks later, I was ramping up (for spring training), I was getting off the mound, full-go.

“Then I literally woke up one day and couldn’t walk.”

The surgeon who worked on his left hip had forewarned him that he would likely have similar issues with his right hip.

“When I sent him the images (of his right hip), I could hear it in his voice,” Cobb said. “He just said, flat-out, he told me, ‘I’m so sorry, the pain you are in.’ I told him I was fine but you could tell he knew I wasn’t going to be fine.”

Cobb said, unbeknownst to him, he had arthritis in the right hip all along. It wasn’t debilitating at first but the cartilage eventually collapsed and he was left with the ball joint scraping on bone.

“I can handle the pain, easily,” he said. “But it’s when the pain and stuff aren’t matched up and you are unable to overcome the pain and have quality outings. For me to be in a position to earn the right to be on this team, I would need to be reliable and I’d need to be effective. And I wasn’t.

“I wasn’t ever going to get to that point. But I wasn’t going to give up.”

He thanked the Tigers’ medical staff and the trainers for all the efforts they put in on his behalf.

“We didn’t leave any stone unturned,” he said. “We did a lot. We did some stuff that isn’t the norm of the baseball world and they went out on a limb and took care of me and tried to make it happen. It got me to a point where I was pitching again.”

Cobb said he plans to be back in Detroit before the end of the season to line things up for the surgery.

“It’s an exciting time to be in that organization and to be a fan of that organization,” Cobb said. “What they’ve done is such a short period of time, it’s why I wanted to sign there. I believe in Scott and I believe in AJ and what they’re creating

“The hardest part is not being able to put that uniform on and go out on that field be a part of what I’ve been watching for the last five months.”