“Don’t Leave,” Blake Snell Opens Up on His Message to Tarik Skubal Ahead of Free Agency Following NLCS Loss

Tarik Skubal will become a free agent once the season ends and is expected to land a deal worth more than $355 million.

“Don’t Leave,” Blake Snell Opens Up on His Message to Tarik Skubal Ahead of Free Agency Following NLCS Loss

Blake Snell and Tarik Skubal (Image via X/@TalkinBaseball_/X/@UncoveredMLB)

Blake Snell does not want Tarik Skubal to leave the Los Angeles Dodgers. Following their elimination from the postseason on Thursday, the left-handed pitcher sent a message to his fellow southpaw and urged him to stay with the NL West team.

On Thursday, the Dodgers lost 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to the Milwaukee Brewers. This saw them get swept 4-0 in the best-of-seven championship series, a year after they swept the Brewers 4-0.

With the loss, their 2026 journey came to an end. Skubal, who joined the team in August through a trade from the Detroit Tigers, will become a free agent once the season is wrapped up.

The 2-time Cy Young Award winner will be the hottest free agent this offseason. The Dodgers are expected to be in his race and try to re-sign him. Meanwhile, the New York Mets are expected to match any high offer made to him in an attempt to bring him in.

Snell does not want Skubal to go to any other team. The two of them have grown close and developed a strong bond.

While speaking with the reporters after their loss, the 33-year-old first claimed that he (Skubal) “can’t leave him” and then urged him not to leave, stating that the goal was to win the World Series.

I just said, he can’t leave me, especially on these terms. The goal is to win a World Series, and we weren’t able to do that … So now that it’s over, it’s like, ‘Don’t leave.

Blake Snell said as per Jack Harris

Apart from Skubal, the Dodgers will have Kike Hernandez, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Eric Lauer, Kris Bubic, Blake Treinen, and Brusdar Graterol entering free agency. Miguel Rojas, meanwhile, officially confirmed his retirement from MLB after the loss.

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Tarik Skubal refused to make a comment regarding his future after NLCS elimination

Tarik Skubal will become a free agent for the first time in his career. The pitcher, however, is not thinking about this at the moment and dropped a blunt response to a free agency question.

Dodgers' Ttarik Skubal
Tarik Skubal (Image via X/@SleeperDodgers)

In the press conference, Skubal simply claimed he was processing the loss of the team and did not want to make any comments about his future.

Yeah, I’m not going to comment on my future really at all. Today sucks, you know, and that’s kind of where my head’s at.

Tarik Skubal said as per Sonja Chen

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez predicted that the Dodgers will not make any mega offer to him before the December 1st lockout. This is the day when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will expire.

Skubal’s next deal is expected to be in the region of above $355 million. This would make it the highest contract ever offered to a starting pitcher. At the moment, Yoshinobu Yamamoto holds the record for the largest contract ever offered to a starting pitcher at 12-year, $325 million.

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