Steve Cohen Wants Tarik Skubal: Where the Mets' Pursuit of the Two-Time Cy Young Winner Really Stands

Every winter has one name that takes over the conversation, and this year it is Tarik Skubal. The two-time Cy Young winner is on the open market, the Mets keep coming up as one of the teams with a real shot, and a growing pile of reporting says Steve Cohen himself is the one pushing hardest. Before anybody starts printing Skubal jerseys in orange and blue, though, here is where things actually stand as of Monday, November 9. No offer has been reported, no meeting has been confirmed, and everything below is reporting and rumor, not a done deal.

How Skubal got here

Skubal spent his whole career in Detroit until early August, when the Tigers finally moved him to the Dodgers ahead of his free agency. He pitched Los Angeles into the NLCS, where the Brewers swept them, and now he is an unrestricted free agent turning 30.

The résumé speaks for itself. He posted a 2.39 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 2024, followed that with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 2025, and even in a 2026 season that included an injury and a midseason trade he went 12-7 with a 2.72 ERA and 186 strikeouts in 158 2/3 innings. That is three straight years under 3.00. Estimates for his next contract run anywhere from $300 million to $400 million.

What is being reported about the Mets

Here is the timeline from the last week, so you can separate the solid stuff from the noise:

• Nov. 3: ESPN's Kiley McDaniel listed the Mets and Dodgers as the early leaders for Skubal.
• Nov. 4: Jim Bowden of The Athletic, speaking on CBS Sports, went further and said, "Skubal is the No. 1 priority of Steve Cohen."
• This weekend: Jon Heyman said the Mets are "very interested" but pointed to obstacles, including the possibility of a salary cap coming out of the next labor deal.
• Nov. 7: An anonymous industry source told Last Word On Sports they expect Skubal to land on the West Coast no matter what New York offers, naming the Dodgers and Mariners.
• Nov. 7-8: The Baseball Hut podcast claimed the Mets were told Skubal is heading back to the Dodgers, while admitting that could change if Cohen goes big. That one is a podcast citing unnamed sources, so file it under rumor.

Put it all together and you get a picture that is pretty clear in one direction and cloudy in the other. The Mets want him, and the owner wants him most of all. Whether Skubal wants Queens is the part nobody can answer yet.

The clock is part of the story

The collective bargaining agreement runs out at the start of December, and most people around the game expect a lockout. Skubal is widely expected to sign before that happens, partly so he does not have to wait out a work stoppage and partly because a cap could change the money on the table. That means this could be decided in the next three weeks.

We have seen this movie before in a good way. Back in 2021, the Mets beat the lockout deadline by signing Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million deal. If Cohen wants to make a statement, a short window and a motivated player is exactly the setup where he has struck before.

Why I am excited, and why I am nervous

Picture a rotation with Skubal at the top and Nolan McLean right behind him. After a 74-88 year, that is the kind of one-two punch that changes how the whole season feels, and with Juan Soto already in the lineup it would tell every fan that the Mets are not rebuilding slowly. One ace does not fix a rotation by himself, but it gives every other arm a little breathing room.

Now the nervous part. Mets fans have been burned by this exact script. Trevor Bauer took less money to go to Los Angeles. Yoshinobu Yamamoto chose the Dodgers when the guaranteed money was the same, $325 million, after Cohen and David Stearns met with him more than once. Roki Sasaki sat down with the Mets in person and still signed in L.A. When the other team is the Dodgers, money alone has not been enough.

There is also the Stearns factor. He has been careful about handing huge long-term deals to starting pitchers, which is why so many reports frame this as a Cohen-driven pursuit. If this happens, it will probably be because the owner decided it was worth breaking the usual rules.

The fan take

I will believe it when I see the press conference. But I would much rather be a fan of a team that is in the room for the best pitcher on the market than one that sits it out. If Cohen is serious about winning in Queens, this is the guy, and this is the moment. Go get him, Steve. Let's go Mets.

Reporting: Kiley McDaniel (ESPN), Jim Bowden (The Athletic, via CBS Sports), Jon Heyman (New York Post), Last Word On Sports, and The Baseball Hut podcast. No team has announced an offer or agreement with Skubal.