A season that figures to be Tarik Skubal’s last with the Detroit Tigers will begin with a record gulf between the two-time Cy Young Award winner and his team.

Skubal and the Tigers could not come to an agreement before the Jan. 8 deadline for arbitration-eligible players to reach agreement on 2026 salaries. Consequently, both sides exchange salary figures and, should they remain at an impasse, an arbitrator will side with either the player’s number or the team’s after a hearing.

And this impasse is the largest in the history of the arbitration system.

Skubal asked for a record $32 million award, while the Tigers filed at $19 million. While this technically has no effect on whether Skubal remains with Detroit once he hits free agency after this year, it’s certainly a symbolic gap between the game’s most dominant pitcher and a team that so far has gained little traction on signing him to a long-term extension.

Skubal is expected to exceed the record $325 million given a starting pitcher, and his total package could reach $400 million.

So, what now?

Tarik Skubal contract: A monstrous midpoint

To be certain, players that have taken their teams to arbitration have gone on to eventually re-sign with their clubs. While the hearing process can be acrimonius, it’s the sports industry’s epitome of nothing personal – just business.

And should this impasse go to trial, the assigned arbitrator will have just one figure in mind: $25.5 million, the midpoint between Skubal and the Tigers’ asks. Should they rule that Skubal’s august resume is worthy of a salary worth more than that, Skubal is awarded $32 million. Anything less, and he’ll earn the Tigers’ requested $19 million – still a record raise from the $10.1 million he pulled down in 2025.

It is a complex game of chicken between team and agent – in this case, yes, Scott Boras – and one that has ramifications beyond the individual case.

Every winter, a taffy pull of sorts emerges between labor and management, the former to ensure arbitration salaries go up, the latter aiming to suppress salaries and avoid re-setting precedents to pay the most talented players not yet eligible for free agency.

And Skubal’s case is particularly tricky.

Which Price is right?

The Tigers already own the record for largest salary given an arbitration-eligible pitcher: David Price, $19.75 million before the 2015 season. That record has held up an entire decade, surprising given the generally rising boats of player salaries.

That indicates management has at least partially succeeded in its bigger-picture goals. But Price was a unique case.

He was the rare player who qualified for ‘Super Two’ status, meaning he gained an extra year of arbitration eligibility thanks to service time accrued his first two seasons. Additionally, Price won a Cy Young Award, finished runner-up another year, posted a 20-win season and accrued four All-Star appearances before his final year of arbitration eligibility.

Does Skubal match up?

Dominance vs. durability

In arbitration, yes, those honors matter, as do cold, hard numbers. Skubal’s two Cy Youngs and 469 strikeouts the past two seasons – most in the major leagues – will be the battering ram for his case.

Yet a closer examination reveals it won’t be a slam dunk.

Skubal underwent flexor tendon surgery in August 2022, limiting that season to 21 starts and delaying his 2023 season, during which he made just 15 starts. Skubal’s raw numbers – games started (134), innings pitched (766 ⅔), strikeouts (889) and wins (54) pale in comparison to Price’s prior to his final arbitration season: 186 starts, 1,221 innings, 1,147 strikeouts, 86 wins.

In the easiest and perhaps laziest comparison, Price had accrued 23.0 wins above replacement, while Skubal’s at 17.9 WAR.

That doesn’t mean he won’t have a case. Price’s was based heavily on the depth of his numbers, while Skubal’s relies on pure dominance. He led the major leagues this past season with a 7.30 strikeout-walk ratio, striking out 11.1 per nine innings while issuing just 1.1 walks. For his career, he’s struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings.

Price never exceeded 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings in a single season, nor did he post a WHIP lower than 1.08; Skubal’s WHIP has hovered below 1.00 each of the past three seasons.

What’s next?

All that will be bandied about in a conference room in Arizona or Florida shortly before or during the earliest days of spring training – unless Skubal and the Tigers come to an agreement before then. Then, the sides will shake hands and go about the business of a third consecutive trip to the playoffs.

After that?

It’s hard to imagine the Tigers anteing up enough for Skubal on the free agent market to stay, not with the biggest-budget Mets, Yankees and Dodgers, among others, lurk not so subtly, all of them notoriously quiet so far this winter. Any notion that the Tigers might trade Skubal have largely cooled, though should they surprisingly fall out of contention by July, that can always be revisited.

Yet the Tigers project to dominate the AL Central, as they did almost all of last season before a late swoon forced them to cling to the league’s final wild-card berth. If this is Skubal’s last ride in Motown – and he seems to be soaking it up, accepting backslaps on the Ford Field sidelines at a December Lions game – it should be a dandy.

Even if it starts under a potentially acrimonious cloud.

Max Kepler, the veteran major league outfielder who most recently played for the Philadelphia Phillies, was suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball on Jan. 9 after testing positive for epitrenbolone, an anabolic steroid.

Kepler, 32, is a free agent and his suspension would begin upon signing with a major league team. He hit 17 home runs in his one season with the Phillies, batting .216 with a .691 OPS. He spent nine previous seasons with the Minnesota Twins, hitting a career-high 36 home runs in 2019. Kepler’s more recent high-water mark was 24 home runs in 2023.

Kepler went 1-for-12 with three walks in the Phillies’ four-game defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

Epitrenbolone, according to the United States Anti-Doping Agency, is a metabolite of trenbolone, which is an anabolic steroid intended to increase muscle and appetite in cattle.

Hirving Lozano’s time with San Diego FC appears to be over.

The MLS club’s sporting director Tyler Heaps said on Friday that the Mexico forward has been told he isn’t part of the team’s plans moving forward.

Lozano was San Diego’s marquee signing ahead of its expansion season last year, joining in a reported $12 million move from Dutch power PSV.

The former Napoli star brought instant name recognition for San Diego, but his debut campaign in MLS was marred by injuries and disciplinary issues.

Lozano was benched for the final game of the regular season and San Diego’s playoff opener after what head coach Mikey Varas called ‘a situation we’re dealing with internally.’

According to The Athletic, Lozano was involved in a heated altercation after he was subbed out of an October game against Houston. Following the report, Lozano issued an apology on social media.

Lozano was still effective when he was on the field in 2025, tallying nine goals and 10 assists in 27 regular-season games.

San Diego was MLS’s surprise package last year, finishing atop the Western Conference standings in its debut campaign before losing in the conference final against Vancouver.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Heaps said San Diego was working with Lozano’s representatives to find him a new club.’We have communicated with Hirving and his representatives that he will not be part of the sporting plans moving forward,’ Heaps said in a video posted on San Diego Futbol’s Instagram account.

‘That was not a decision that was taken lightly. That was something that was well talked through from owners down to leadership down to myself and Mikey, and has been communicated with the rest of the group.

‘So we’re working with [Lozano] and his representatives to find the best solution and the best environment moving forward.’

Lozano has 75 caps with Mexico, appearing at the World Cup in 2018 and 2022.

GLENDALE, AZ — Wouldn’t you know it, as we reach peak crazy in the ever-evolving menagerie that is college football, the Miami Hurricanes decided to reintroduce old school nostalgia.  

Breathe deep, everyone, and soak in the brief respite from the nouveau riche transitory, cash is king aura of the game while Miami takes you on a wayback tour for the ages. 

One that almost died before it could reach a beautiful ending.

The dagger is the game-winning drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run from Carson Beck with 18 seconds remaining. The story of Miami’s 31-27 Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal win over Ole Miss is so much more than that. 

It has been 24 years since Miami last won a national title, 23 since the phantom pass interference call against Ohio State that stole another. Now after more than two decades away from the national elite, Miami has finally returned.

Even if it almost blew it in the process.

‘It’s a reflection of our players and their DNA,’ said Miami coach Mario Cristobal, the former Canes offensive linemen who has spent four years rebuilding and reshaping a team that spent the majority of the 21st century in the college football hinterlands. ‘The tougher it gets, the better we play.’

This is what Cristobal wanted all along, anyway. Too many times over too many seasons in the 2000s, Miami underachieved or oversold, and underdelivered or just plain underwhelmed.

They weren’t tough enough. Didn’t know how to win games that mattered, games that define programs.

They wilted in the moment, and didn’t believe in each other. They weren’t physically or mentally tough enough.

They dodged a near catastrophe when the CFP selection committee nearly chose Notre Dame ― which Miami beat in the season opener and had the same record as the Irish ― and they’ve now won five consecutive games away from Miami.

How fitting that the final game in this journey, the last step of Miami returning to glory, will be the national championship game (against Indiana or Oregon) played at home in Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

‘We made a promise to each other that we’d get to this point,’ said Miami safety Jakobe Thomas. ‘It’s go time now, and we coming.’

So while former players with their championship rings of years past crowded the field and celebrated with each other, while former receiver Michael Irvin continued his postseason sideline party by storming around State Farm Stadium and screaming ‘Happy U Year!’, the heavy lifting of it all was in the moment.

Miami dominated nearly every facet of the game. The Canes were the better team, the tougher team. They also were the team that couldn’t get out of its own way with an interception at the Ole Miss 15, 10 penalties, missed scoring opportunities and strange play-calling that ignored a run game that got what it wanted, when it wanted.

So when the game-winning drive began with three minutes to play and Miami trailing 27-24, Beck stood on the sidelines with his teammates and told them, ‘this is what college football is all about.’ Canes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson then leaned in and summed up the rare opportunity.

‘This (expletive) ain’t easy, but we’re built for it,’ Dawson told the offense. ‘Now go get it.’

A year ago at this time, Beck was recovering from ulnar surgery on his elbow and sitting at his home in Jacksonville. He wasn’t leaving for the NFL, and wasn’t returning to Georgia.

Across from him was Cristobal, with a plan and a vision to not only return Miami to the top of the mountain ― but to do it with Beck as his quarterback. A year later, it came down to Beck and the final drive of the Fiesta Bowl.

‘I looked at the guys and said, ‘These are the big moments,” Beck said. ‘Are we going to respond or not?’

This is how Cristobal envisioned the return of Miami. This is what he knew it could look like once the right players were recruited, the right coaches were hired and a never-fear, never-flinch culture was born and developed.

All of those Miami teams of the past that would’ve wilted in this moment, all of those teams that followed the greatest team in college football history in 2001 that couldn’t close out games, couldn’t make their mark. That includes the 2024 team, a group that could’ve reached the CFP but lost two of its last three games and finished playing in a meaningless bowl game.

As the confetti fell late Thursday night, as the realization of what had transpired and where it was headed had settled in, former Miami quarterback Cam Ward stood outside the stage on the field and smiled. They were so close in 2024, but the buildout wasn’t complete.

‘This team took what we built, and took it to another level,’ Ward said.

The Canes did it by going old school, by lining up and physically punishing Ole Miss on both sides of the ball. At this point, who cares if they nearly gave away the game, if it took a 75-yard drive to pull it off.

Miami is back among the national elite because Cristobal’s plan from Day 1 has worked. Even in the face of nearly blowing it all in the most important game of the season. 

You remember the good ol’ days, don’t you? When players weren’t paid (legally, anyway), universities hoarded the cash and free movement of players was from the starting lineup to the bench.

And when Miami, with the best players and coaches, did whatever it wanted in a two-decade run that rivaled anything the sport had ever seen. Until a guy named Saban came along. 

But this Miami team has plenty of Nick Saban in it, and more of what made Miami great — and led to five national titles from 1983-2001. Cristobal played at Miami under Jimmy Johnson and won a national title, and coached under Saban at Alabama and won another. 

He’s now returned Miami to the elite of the game, and on the verge of ending that national title drought. By taking the formula Johnson used and Saban perfected, and imposing its will on anything and anyone in its way.

A formula so perfected, it even perseveres through human error.

‘We let our play on the field answer any and all questions,’ Cristobal said.

All the way to the national championship game.

Carson Beck disappointed in his two seasons at Georgia, failing to reach the College Football Playoff in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury last season in the SEC Championship game.

But it has all been worth it for the sixth-year senior and first-year Miami quarterback, as he led the Hurricanes to the national championship game with a game-winning drive to beat Ole Miss 31-27. It was a storybook ending to the Fiesta Bowl for Beck, who ran untouched for a 3-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left.

Now he’ll play his final collegiate game at Miami’s home stadium of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, against the winner of Indiana and Oregon.

‘It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life,’ he said postgame on the ESPN broadcast. ‘I’m so proud of this team. We never flinched. I mean, in the face of adversity when we had to respond, we responded. We never gave up. I looked to the guys on the sideline, and you could just see it in their eyes.

‘We all had a good feeling that what happened was about to happen.’

Beck completed 23-of-37 passes for 268 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against the Rebels, also rushing for a score. He was 6-for-11 passing for 49 yards on the final drive, converting twice on third down.

Beck said he gathered his teammates before the final drive of the game to set the tone for the game-winning score.

‘I told them, ‘We got three minutes for the rest of our life,” he said on the broadcast. ‘No (expletive) else matters. … Nothing else matters, we got three minutes to go through this. I mean, everything we’ve worked for since January, everything we’ve been through, all the adversity that we’ve faced, all comes down to three minutes in the semifinals.’

Now, Beck has a chance to rewrite his narrative in the national championship game, looking to bring Miami its first title since 2001.

Alysa Liu will debut a revamped Lady Gaga free skate at the U.S. figure skating championships.
The new program features different songs and a new platinum, sparkly costume.
Her performance will help determine which program she uses for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

ST. LOUIS — With the 2026 Winter Olympics less than a month away, Alysa Liu will be using the U.S. figure skating championships to see what will be in her arsenal when she arrives in Milano Cortina.

For the free skate at the nationals on Friday, Jan. 9, the reigning world champion will be using her revamped Lady Gaga medley, bringing back a program figure skating fans have been eagerly awaiting to see.

‘It’s a totally new free skate, so I’m excited,’ Liu told reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

It’s been a work in progress for several months for Liu, last performing it at the 2025 CS Lombardia Trophy in September. It wasn’t the strongest showing, so she and choreographer Massimo Scali decided it was ‘not right yet’ and needed to be re-worked. In the meantime, she went back to her ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ free skate.

Since then, there’s been wonder when the Lady Gaga free skate would come back. At Skate America in November, Liu said her team was still tinkering with the music and choreography, working on it ‘behind the scenes and in training.’

Get our Chasing Gold Olympics newsletter in your inbox for coverage of your favorite Team USA athletes

Ahead of the U.S. figure skating championships, Liu said the program had been officially reworked and would be ready to go in St. Louis. 

There are some changes, notably in the song choices. ‘Bloody Mary’ is no longer in the mix, and instead Liu is using the songs ‘Chromatica’ and ‘Paparazzi,’ with ‘Bad Romance’ remaining as the closer.

There’s also a new costume. Instead of the fiery red dress, Liu is wearing a platinum, sparkly dress that looks inspired by Lady Gaga’s VMA performance in 2009, something she’s been excited to reveal.

‘I really like the dress, so I hope you guys like it too,’ Liu said.

Liu mentioned there won’t be a triple axel in the program, adding that’s mostly her fault because she didn’t realize how close the competition was and ‘it didn’t cross my mind’ to train for it. However, it could be included if she decides to keep it after the U.S. championships going into the Winter Olympics.

The performance will be a key moment for Liu as she has the two free skates in her inventory and could decide to go back to her old one for Milano Cortina, as it is widely expected she will be on the Olympic roster when it is announced on Sunday, Jan. 11. A solid performance could lead to keeping it with some tweaks, while issues could lead to ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ coming back.

Liu heads into the final performance of the nationals in second place after a stunning short program that landed her a season-best 81.11, a U.S. championship record. However, it was shortly broken when Amber Glenn’s program netted her an 83.05 score to jump ahead in first place. 

Liu’s free skate will take place roughly around 10:35 p.m. ET as she tries to win her first U.S. title since 2020 after finishing in second place – behind Glenn – last year.

The Miami Dolphins made a seismic decision Friday. The question now becomes: Will there be an even bigger aftershock?

The Fins are hiring Jon-Eric Sullivan, formerly the vice president of player personnel for the Green Bay Packers, as their new general manager, according to multiple reports. The move comes just a day after owner Stephen Ross fired head coach Mike McDaniel following his fourth season, Miami’s second straight without a playoff berth.

The Dolphins’ next move is obviously to find McDaniel’s successor. Sullivan’s arrival could be an indication that the next coach won’t be John Harbaugh, who was fired by the Baltimore Ravens earlier this week, ending his 18-year tenure. Miami had interviewed Los Angeles Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander, who spent much of his 20 seasons in Baltimore working alongside Harbaugh, as a candidate for the job that went to Sullivan.

Per multiple reports, Ross did not fire McDaniel merely because of Harbaugh’s unexpected availability but instead independently decided the franchise needed a new direction.

Sullivan had been affiliated with the Packers since interning for them during training camp in 2003 − back when Brett Favre was the face of the franchise. Sullivan was in Green Bay with currently unemployed coach Mike McCarthy and was a scout when the Pack won their most recent Super Bowl at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Sullivan is also the son of longtime NFL assistant Jerry Sullivan, a Miami native who was the Dolphins’ wide receivers coach in 2004.

Jon-Eric Sullivan had been in his VP role with the Packers since 2022, promoted after years of scouting college players.

The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game in 25 years, the longest such drought in the league. Miami has not won the AFC East title since the 2008 season. Among the numerous challenges Sullivan and the coach he hires face will include resetting the organizational culture; deciding the futures of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wideout Tyreek Hill, among others, with the team; getting the team’s bloated salary cap in shape; and reloading a roster that had become old, expensive and underachieving under McDaniel and former GM Chris Grier.

The Dolphins, who finished 7-10 this season, will pick 11th overall in April’s draft and also own two additional third-round choices courtesy of trades that were made last year.

The general manager of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators issued an explosive statement on Thursday, Jan. 8 to admonish ‘the lowest form of trolls and sick people who scour the internet’ in the wake of rumors spreading about the ongoing leave of absence by goaltender Linus Ullmark.

Steve Staios, who also serves as the Senators president of hockey operations, took the unusual step of addressing the social media speculation about an hour before faceoff of the Senators’ 8-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. He said Ullmark had the organization’s support and alleged ‘outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club,’ but did not offer any other specifics about the situation.

Ullmark has not played for Ottawa since allowing four goals on 14 shots in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 27. The Swedish goalie has been away from the team for ‘personal reasons’ since then and the Senators moved him to a non-roster spot on Thursday to make room for the return of veteran center Lars Eller.

“Our organization was extremely disappointed to read the completely fabricated and false stories that are spreading around social media about our hockey club,” Staios said in the statement. “Linus is away from our team for personal reasons and he has the entire organization’s support. We asked that people respect his privacy, but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that spread online.”

Ullmark is 14-8-5 with a 2.95 goals against average and an .881 save percentage in his second season with the Senators. The 32-year-old is in the first year of a four-year, $33 million extension he signed in October 2024.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.