2025 Cy Young Award Winners Stoke Trade Rumor Flames At Low Simmer

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) announced the 2025 Cy Young Award winners in the American and National Leagues on the MLB Network. Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal won his second Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons and is the first pitcher in the American League who has achieved this feat since Hall of Fame right-hander Pedro Martinez during his time with the Boston Red Sox (1999-2000). Including Skubal, 12 pitchers have won back-to-back Cy Young Awards according to MLB.com with right-hander Jacob deGrom (2018-2019) being the last winner in consecutive seasons while a member of the New York Mets. Skubal received 26 first-place votes and 198 total points, but the streak of three consecutive unanimous Cy Young Award winners has come to an end in the American League according to the BBWAA. It started with right-handed pitchers Justin Verlander (2022) while playing for the Houston Astros, Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees (2023) and the left-handed Skubal (2024).

Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes won his first National League Cy Young Award and is the third recipient in franchise history alongside right-handers Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990). The third pitcher who was drafted first overall to win a Cy Young Award, Skenes received 30 first-place votes and 210 total points making him the first unanimous winner in the National League since Miami Marlins right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara (2022). Skenes is in a class by himself as he is the first pitcher who has won the Most Outstanding Player Award in the College World Series (2023), Rookie of the Year Award (2024) and Cy Young Award (2025). The Elias Sports Bureau states that Skenes is the only pitcher who has started the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons. Skubal and Skenes were the starting pitchers in the 2025 All-Star Game.

2025 Cy Young Award Celebrates Dominance And Youth

Skenes is the eighth pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in his age-23 season or younger according to Baseball-Reference. He is the youngest winner since former Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (2011) as both were in their age-23 seasons. Alongside Skenes, two other pitchers have won the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards in their first two seasons: right-hander Dwight Gooden during his heyday with the New York Mets (1984-1985) and left-hander Fernando Valenzuela amid the height of his popularity with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981). Gooden and Valenzuela are the youngest pitchers who have ever won a Cy Young Award as both achieved this feat during their age-20 seasons.

According to the MLB Network, Skenes is the first pitcher since the advent of the Live-Ball Era (1920-Present) with an earned run average under 2.00 in each of his first two seasons based on a minimum of 20 starts per season. Skenes and three other pitchers in the Live-Ball Era have struck out at least 200 batters while posting an earned run average below 2.00 in their age-23 season or younger according to Baseball-Reference: left-hander Vida Blue (1971) along with right-handers Dwight Gooden (1985) and Dean Chance (1964). Skenes also has the lowest earned run average (1.96) for a pitcher over his first 55 career starts based on a minimum of 300 innings.

While Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto has set the current standard for pitching excellence in the postseason and compensation courtesy of his 12-year, $325 million contract, Skubal is considered by many to be the best in the world. Arbitration-eligible one last time prior to free agency and represented by Scott Boras, Skubal should expect a healthy increase from his $10.15 million salary for the 2025 season as he is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to secure a one-year, $17.8 million contract. Excluding Shohei Ohtani’s one-year, $30 million contract for the 2023 season with the Los Angeles Angels as a two-way ball player, an arbitration-eligible pitcher has yet to surpass the $20 million threshold.

Are 2025 Cy Young Award Winners Undervalued?

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, there have been 11 occurrences where an arbitration-eligible ball player received a one-year contract worth at least $20 million. Skubal posted 6.6 wins above replacement (WAR) for the 2025 season based on FanGraphs’ calculation of the statistic which is valued at $53.1 million when converted to a dollar scale based on what he would have made in free agency. Besides Skubal, two other qualified starting pitchers posted a WAR of 6.0 or greater during the 2025 season according to FanGraphs: Skenes (6.5) and left-hander Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies (6.4). Skenes is not eligible for arbitration until after the conclusion of the 2026 season. His salary was $875,000 for the 2025 season which is in stark contrast to his FanGraphs’ WAR value converted to a dollar scale totaling $52 million.

Skubal is expected to pursue a decade-long contract valued at $400 million next offseason. The Detroit Tigers are in a precarious position given the quality of suitors Skubal will encounter in free agency and how devastating it would be if he were to leave after being selected by the franchise in the ninth round of the 2018 draft out of Seattle University. The optics would be terrible if the Detroit Tigers extended Skubal a qualifying offer just so it could be rejected to receive draft pick compensation to offset the loss if he signed with another franchise. If health and performance remain at an elite level, Skubal should surpass Yamamoto’s contract value given how Boras encourages his clients to embrace the chaos of free agency instead of signing a long-term contract extension without the presence of competition.

While the Detroit Tigers must be overwhelmed when it comes to trade proposals given the complexities surrounding Skubal, don’t expect any return phone calls from the Pittsburgh Pirates if you’re an executive inquiring about the availability of Skenes. A pre-arbitration starting pitcher who won the Cy Young Award in his age-23 season, Skenes is an untouchable asset for a franchise with limited financial resources. He will benefit from the 2025 Major League Baseball pre-arbitration bonus pool like he did in 2024 courtesy of a $2,152,057 bonus according to the Associated Press. Skenes will receive at least $2.5 million from the pre-arbitration bonus pool for winning the 2025 National League Cy Young Award. He is making more money from the pre-arbitration bonus pools in each of the last two seasons than what the Pittsburgh Pirates are paying him.

The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and Scott Boras advising his clients to pursue free agency instead of agreeing to contract extensions. The Detroit Tigers must carefully consider the ramifications of a blockbuster trade involving Tarik Skubal and how it would affect the franchise’s future, fan base and financial statements. While the Pittsburgh Pirates have made it abundantly clear that Paul Skenes will be on the 2026 roster, the pressure is on to produce a competitive ball club by investing in talent. The 2025 Cy Young Award winners are stoking the flames of Major League Baseball’s hot stove season, but don’t be surprised to see the rumors burn at a low simmer for much of the winter.