In a rebuttal to pundits and fans assuming players toiling for the Pittsburgh Pirates exist only to serve the needs of their larger-market overlords, Paul Skenes maintained he’s focused on success in the Steel City.
‘The goal is to win,’ Skenes said on a conference call after winning the National League Cy Young Award in his first full years a big leaguer. ‘And the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.’
Skenes has four seasons remaining before he is eligible for free agency, yet the perpetually desperate state of the Pirates – their last-place finish marked the ninth consecutive year finishing fourth or fifth in the NL Central – has hatched a guessing game for when the Pirates might be motivated to trade the dominant yet still blossoming right-hander.
A report from a suburban New Jersey outlet indicated Skenes might have told an anonymous former teammate he’d prefer to be a Yankee and be traded there. Skenes was unaware of the conversation with the mystery player after teammates showed him the report.
‘I didn’t think much about it,’ he says.
Asked Wednesday at the MLB general manager meetings about the possibility of trading Skenes, Pirates GM Ben Cherington reiterated that ‘Paul Skenes is going to be a Pirate in 2026.”
“It’s always respectful. Teams have to ask the question, right?” Cherington said. “I suspect that won’t end. But the answer has been consistent.’
Paul Skenes contract
Paul Skenes earned $875,000 in 2025 and is due for a raise next season. He is a free agent at the end of the 2029 season.