The Detroit Tigers have two pathways to remain American League contenders after back-to-back playoff appearances. They either build a star-studded team around two-time defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who is headed for free agency at the end of the 2026 season, or trade him for a gigantic haul that secures themselves down the line.Skubal, who has a 31-10 record with a 2.30 ERA and 439 strikeouts in 62 appearances during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, is expected to entertain a big market with some of the clubs high on the list of payrolls pursuing him. The Tigers, expected to be outbid as they aren't known for big signings, are speculated to trade the right-hander if an extension isn't signed by the July trade deadline.Tigers President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris said on the MLB Network on Monday during the winter meetings that the timeframe for "maximizing" their opportunity to win with Skubal ghasn't been wasted."That's a hard question to answer for a few reasons. One, we made the playoffs each of the last two years, so I don't know what maximizing the time is," Harris said. "We had a credible chance to win the World Series, and we put a really good team out there on the field."I think the second thing is it's a hard question to answer because I can't and I won't speculate on trades for our own players. It's just not fair to the players. It's not fair to the other teams."Harris continued that he believes that 26 players on the roster make a playoff team before dropping a bombshell of a hint when asked about the pressure on the organization to make some move with Skubal."Yeah, I mean, the clearest way I can answer that is I don't believe in untouchable players at any level," he added. "It's not a commentary on Tarik. It's more of a blanket approach to building a winning organization. My job is to make this organization better."I've got to find ways to make this organization better, which means that I need to listen to every opportunity, no matter how likely or unlikely it is to actually happen. I got to listen because we got to get better as an organization."Scott Harris compliments Gleyber Torres for ushering new offensive approach to TigersThe Tigers offered infielder Gleyber Torres a qualifying offer after his successful performance in 2025. He had a .358 on-base percentage and .387 slugging percentage, which Scott Harris believes helped the Tigers to alter their offense's style."I think Torres helped us address that need," Harris said during the interview. "He has elite bat-to-ball skills. He has on-base skills. He has a real presence at the top of our order, and his approach is contagious with other guys in our lineup."Torres' 2.9 bWAR tied him for second among the Tigers' position players with Zach McKinstry and behind catcher Dillon Dingler. His qualifying offer gives him a raise of $7.025 million from his $15 million contract last year.