Every offseason there are at least a handful of high-profile players other clubs and their fans dream upon as the trade market begins to ramp up. Pirates ace and likely NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes may be coveted by every other team and fan base in the league, but general manager Ben Cherington was quick to stomp out any trade chatter before it even picked up. Speaking with FanSided’s Robert Murray, Cherington plainly stated that he will not trade his ace this offseason. Skenes “is going to be a Pirate in 2026,” Cherington said.
There’s little reason to think the Pirates would move Skenes at this juncture anyhow, save for owner Bob Nutting’s typically frugal habits. Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2023 draft, burst onto the scene early in the 2024 season, started the All-Star Game just a couple months later, won ’24 NL Rookie of the Year honors and is now poised to win the first of what could very well be multiple Cy Young Awards in his career.
Since taking a major league mound for the first time, Skenes has started 55 games and posted a comical 1.96 earned run average (1.96 ERA in 2024, 1.97 in 2025). He’s punched out 31% of his opponents against just a 5.9% walk rate and has only allowed 21 home runs in 320 2/3 innings (0.59 HR/9). Forty-seven percent of his batted balls have been grounders, and opponents have averaged a paltry 87.7 mph off the bat against him. He’s already staked a defensible claim to being the best pitcher in the National League, and were it not for the fact that Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is poised to win his second straight Cy Young Award in the AL, Skenes might well be the consensus top pitcher in the sport.
Trading Skenes somewhere down the road feels almost inevitable. If he continues this trajectory, he’ll have the opportunity to shatter contract precedents for starting pitchers. He already has two full years of big league service and won’t turn 24 until next May. He’ll reach free agency heading into his age-28 season. The thrifty Pirates almost certainly aren’t going to put forth a record-breaking extension offer, which is presumably already what it’d take to extend Skenes.
That said, Skenes is still under club control for four more seasons, and he won’t even reach arbitration until after the 2026 season. At least the first of his arb years will be affordable even by Pirates standards, and for a pitcher of this caliber it wouldn’t be surprising to see them hold Skenes later than some of the prior pitchers they’ve traded away with two years of club control remaining (e.g. Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove).
There was never really any expectation that Skenes would be traded this offseason — we didn’t include him on our list of the offseason’s top 40 trade candidates — but it’s nevertheless notable to hear the team’s baseball operations leader so definitively say a trade won’t happen. Most front office leaders tend to avoid speaking in absolutes of this nature, after all.
Beyond that, Cherington’s comment comes at a time when the Pirates are widely expected to make a bit more of a push for a return to contention. The 2026 season will be year six of Cherington’s GM tenure, and the team hasn’t topped 76 wins during his time running the club. Pittsburgh already dismissed manager Derek Shelton back in May — he’s since been hired as the Twins’ new skipper — and the baseball ops leader tends to be next on the chopping block after a manager is shown the door.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal said earlier today in an appearance on Fair Territory that agents he’s spoken to have already received signals from the Pirates that they’re planning to be more active on the open market this winter (video link). That doesn’t mean the Bucs are going to play at the top of the market, of course, but the 2025-26 offseason could see them step out of the bottom tiers of free agency where they tend to reside. Cherington himself told Murray that he has “more flexibility than we’ve had in [any] other offseasons I’ve been in Pittsburgh.”
As MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, it’s been nearly a decade since the Pirates have signed a free agent to a multi-year contract. That’s not an indication that they haven’t made any multi-year offers, but the Pirates certainly haven’t been aggressive during Nutting’s ownership, whether under Cherington or predecessor Neal Huntington.
In an appearance on the MLB Trade Rumors podcast late in the season, Cherington acknowledged that he’s made multi-year offers to free agents — specifically free agent position players. Obviously, those offers have been rebuffed. Still, the sixth-year Pittsburgh GM made clear that he plans to continue those efforts, and there are now multiple indicators that he might have the financial latitude to be a bit more aggressive as he looks to line up on such a deal to add some offense to the lineup.
The Bucs could still trade some pitching to add a big league bat(s), but veteran Mitch Keller or 26-year-old Mike Burrows seem like more plausible candidates than Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft or Jared Jones (on whom they’d be selling low as he finishes off his rehab from UCL surgery).
‘Skenes a Pirate in ’26’… yea no kidding. If you trade him for say four high-ceiling players, Nutting would have to pay those four players. Best to hold onto Skenes until his arb salary will be greater than the salaries of the haul Skenes is going to fetch
I’m shocked Paul is this loyal to the pirates and doesn’t want to be traded
He is the best pitcher in the world but is on a team that isnt trying to win and that plays for profit
He’s in no position to be making trade demands yet.
@sad tormented
Skenes has no say in the matter. He’s also smart enough to not say anything about how he feels publicly so it doesn’t negatively effect his off-field reputation and endorsements.
And oh by the way, he’s already received $10M.
This isn’t the NBA. Players dont regularly demand trades in MLB especially not players with this little pro experience.
That’s what happens in salary capped leagues.
What good does it to do the sport or even the Pirates to hoard him?
What good does it do the sport to have all the star players in the league hoarded onto the same 12 big market teams while everyone else is “rebuilding” as if those 12 big market teams won’t still have an advantage in 3-5 more years?
What good does it do to the sport to have the remaining cheap owners who neglect the proper development, hires, and payroll to prevent rebuilds in the first place?
Like your Rockies, hiflew, come on, now.
The Rockies owners have never been “cheap” in their history. They may not have spent wisely and that their development was awful and that they were behind the times in regards to analytics and you can easily argue that they were too loyal, but they have NEVER been cheap.
And when you are in the division with the Dodgers, rebuilding does no good at all. Just look at the Padres. They did one of the better small market rebuilds of all time and spent a lot of money just so they could get second place in the division for a few years before you have to inevitably tear it all down again.
And now I have to go use some mouthwash because I had to give a compliment to the Padres.
2728-One small market team has won the Workd Series since 1991.
Enough said.
Marlins?
Marlins spent money to win, then they immediately sold off all their talent. TWICE!
The Rockies won’t have a viable window for contention for a few years.
Padres and Giants are going for it, spending money and being aggressive. Even Arizona is fielding a strong team and pushing the field.
Dodgers have a chance to age into average. Doubtful but possible.
Padres have a chance to regress under the weight of contracts and ownership issues.
San Francisco might have a hard time getting all the pieces they want to play for them.
Arizona night not be able to sustain their push for various reasons.
But none of that happens within the next few years. Rockies ownership knows this. All that being said, they should at least field a competitive team so they don’t lose 100, regardless of playoff window.
Royals
You could say the same thing about Skubal since he has been great for longer and have the Tigers really won anything except getting into the playoffs?
Response directed to Tigersin2050
“Except getting into the playoffs” in his two CY seasons is a pretty exception. I’m not sure how you could type that without seeing the difference tbh.
That’s true but they really did nothing more than make the playoffs.
And the Pirates deserve a chance to maximize their playoff chances as much as any team.
He will be getting his money soon enough,and the Dodgers or Yankees or Mets will buy him.
Getting into the playoffs is winning. Or did you miss the fact that it means they won more games than they lost?
So what?The Tigers were terrible for many years.Were they supposed to trade their best players to the Yankees like the Athletics used to do?
And how does that apply to any excellent player on any mediocre team?Did you say the same thing about Mike Trout?Or can’t you see him play for the Angels?
Are the small market teams supposed to be AAAA teams for the big market teams?
It takes a lot of gall for someone to say that the Pirates and their fans do not deserve to be able to watch Paul Skenes.
Of course good players can play on bad teams. But literally what good does it do their franchise to hold on to him if (1) they will not be able to extend him, (2) they will get nothing for him when he leaves, (3) they will not make the playoffs even with him, and (4) he does not like playing there. I personally hope Skenes makes an example out of the Pirates ownership and makes them make a choice. Their organization is not good for the league, cutting Rowdy Tellez at just the right time to avoid paying a couple K. No, I don’t want Skenes on the Dodgers either. But I do want the Pirates to try to compete with the Dodgers by putting a good product on the field.
2025-Are you really serious?!
How are the Pirates ever going to compete with the Dodgers?
How are the Tigers ever going to compete with the Dodgers?
When a team is bad they want to keep a player who is outstanding.He gives hope and draws people.
Cherington does not know how to make a trade.He would never be trusted with this one.The Cole trade would look good in comparison.
The Pirates only hope to have a decent winning record is to add a few hitters and keep their best player.
What team other than the Dodgers have a system who can give the Pirates 2 or 3 bona fide ML or near ML hitters plus others?
The Dodgers can win the WS without him and having to trade the best players out of their system.
Tellez did not deserve any sort of bonus and he admitted it.
And how do you know that he does not want to play in Pittsburgh?
And are the Tigers good for the league when they give a 200 year contract to Miggy when he can hardly run over the last three years?
If Skenes keeps pitching like he has the past two seasons, and there is no reason to believe he won’t, he is on pace for record numbers in arbitration. By his 2nd go through arbitration, he will be the highest paid player in the Pirates organization at $18-20 million and will have 1-2 more seasons of arbitration. His final year of arbitration will be around $30 million. He will not be a Pirate that season. He probably won’t be a Pirate for the 2nd go round through arbitration. They definitely have no chance of extending him.
It is extremely telling that Bloom didn’t say that he would be a Pirate for a long time or even that he would be a Pirate for the entire 2026 season. Just that he would be a Pirate in 2026.
Not sure why you keep pulling at the straw man by making this about the Tigers. Read the rest of the comments on this page. Or even read how Jeff Passan feels about this team. It’s not good for the sport. Simple as that.
Tigers-I really do not care what Jeff Passan writes about the sport and only care about the knowledgeable posters on this site.
I cite the Tigers because you have that name in your screen name.
Many other teams would be applicable too.
Web-I can see them paying him $20M if they are in contention.They will be paying Keller $16 M this coming year.
However,$30 M would be a stretch for any team especially a small market one.
We both know that this is an academic exercise to some extent if there is no baseball year in 2027.
Keller is expected to be traded exactly because he is making $16 million. As I said, the Pirates might be willing to pay Skenes $18-20 million, but he will absolutely be gone before they have to pay him $30 million. At the trade deadline of his 2nd arbitration eligible season is almost certainly when they will trade him.
He’s one of the only reasons to watch the pirates. So every time he pitches they get more tickets sold, and they get better TV slots.
There is no downside for them waiting. And if the kids happen to catch lightning in a bottle, they have a playoff pitcher who might win a game or two.
The only downside is if he gets hurt.That is why they traded Cole a year early.
And as I said in the previous post your team may be the only one with a good enough farm system to provide the players.
I would love to see Skenes and or Skubal on the Dodgers next year. They are probably willing to move assets to make it happen.
Honestly it would be somewhat hilarious if they got them both and deferred big money to sign them long term. Just to watch the angry happen from those that don’t understand the system.
But I don’t see it happening with Skenes this off-season. Possibly Skubal though.
Those who understand the system understand that you will get neither this year.
And those of us who know baseball surmise that there may be no 2027 season just like 1994 so you would also be getting neither in 2027.
Which system do you speak of?
If the Dodgers decided to trade available assets for either of them, they have plenty to make a trade partner more than happy. Not saying they will, but they could put a package together which would be more than tempting.
Any why not try and get one of them under contact before the work stoppage, if there is one? Then the contract would be on the books already, and whatever changes are made will likely not affect the team much. Pretty sure that’s the system if they want it to be.
It they can just be great at development and bring up great players. Options are awesome.
The Dodgers do not need either pitcher and they will sign Skubal next year because they can collect Cy Young award winners like many teams get middle inning relievers.
Skenes is not going anywhere for at least a couple of years and the Dodgers would have to give up up half their farm system to get him now.
Why not give up some of the farm for a dominant starter? That’s a lot of why they have a top farm system.
With the team being stacked, there aren’t as many paths for those in the Dodgers system to make it to the big club anyways.
And if the big 2027 stoppage happens, they already gave him on the team and can extend him. Or they can let him go back to free agency likely after winning a third world series in a row. Which would make losing the farm players worth it.
Pirates need ML ready players and ML players.
This is a dead end subject because they are not trading Skenes.
So? They’ll still suck.
Great but he didn’t say Skenes was going to be a Pirate for years to come let alone 2027.
May not be a 2027 season….
Nutting is a silver spoon dunce whose understanding of business is limited entirely to waiting for his father to die.
Skenes is going to be under a super cheap salary for 2026, so yeah you keep him. Legit trade rumors probably won’t start until next offseason or around the trade deadline in 2027.
Obviously he’s gonna be a Pirates for 2026 and 2927. He’ll likely be traded winter meetings 2027. Giving the acquiring team 2 year to extend him.
Just for fun… What will Skenes be doing for the 900 years between 2026 and 2927?
If he’s still pitching baseballs, that would be a lot of fun.
Hanging with Walt Disney.
Trade him for the right price. Dodgers could get the deal done, not many other team have the prospect capital to entertain the Pirates for them to consider trading Skenes.
Tigers, Mariners, Dodgers, Red Sox… I’d listen to the Tigers but I doubt they would be able to keep Skenes long enough since Skubal is already too expensive.
What a total disaster of a franchise the Pirates are. Best pitcher in the league and they’re surely going to waste his time there and miss the playoffs every season. And, Nutting will profit every one of those dud seasons.
Always a bummer to see great talent wasted. Reminds me of Felix Rodriguez…and Mike Trout I guess.
Felix Rodriguez??? The relief pitcher?
I think that he means Felix Hernandez which you have probably already deduced.
Would you be happier if he lost money? Why do people take offense when owners make money? If owners didn’t make money, there would be no Major League Baseball at all. And Skenes would have to settle for a much less attractive girlfriend and probably a job selling cars.
Meh. She’s nothing special
I agree with you. I have never really understood why I cannot stand her, even before I knew who she was, but I knew it was something. I still don’t know why I cannot stand her, but there is something.
But regardless of my feelings, she is rich, famous, and popular. She would likely not be with Skenes if he was not a famous athlete.
Didn’t Jeff Karstens marry some South American model? You dont have to be a high profile player or make a ton of money in baseball to land an attractive woman
See Cole Tucker. Career bench bat/minor league fodder, married to Vanessa Hudgens.
Yeah and both of those guys are still professional athletes. I didn’t say they had to be superstars of Hall of Famers. My original comment said nothing about his superstar status or the amount of money he has made. It said if he wasn’t playing baseball and was selling cars. Not if he was a less talented pro athlete.
And Jeff Karstens made almost $8 million dollars in his career. I don’t know what kind of circles you hang out in, but to me that is still a ton of money.
“Would you be happier if he lost money?”. No one argues that he should not make money.
The complaint is that he doesn’t invest the profit back into the team.
The Cincinnati Reds have publicly stated that all profits the team makes is put back into the team.
The OP of this thread literally had one of his three sentences complaining about Nutting profiting. So don’t say no one argues that he should not make money.
“The Cincinnati Reds have publicly stated that all profits the team makes is put back into the team.” And if you believe that, there is nothing more I can say to change your mind. I just hope I am not close by when you overcome your naivete. Someone might get hurt.
DK said that Nutting lost money in 2024, and MLB lost almost $2B
No one is believing it.
They have an accountant smarter than any of us figuring it all out to make them happy.
He’s a Pirate, for as long as he’s under arbitration even then, he’s probably going to be traded in his last year.
So expect a trade after 2026/01/01. Got it.
That’s great, so can we get some bats so he doesn’t go 10-10 with a 210+ ERA+ again?
“in 2026” is not the same as “for all of 2026.”
Writer: ‘Sir I didn’t ask if you were planning to move Skenes………..’
Is there any way Cherington convinces ownership to extend Skenes at market value and raise the overall budget of the team to compliment that contract? (I said compliment, not match)
10 years/$400M, back loaded?
Bob Nutting is uber cheap, 10/400m is insanity for that man.
He would do maybe 7 years, $120MM, but only if Keller is gone first.
Skenes would be smart to say neigh
What they should do is $15M each year for five years to get the year that they lost with the ROY award back.
It gives Skenes in essence $25 M for the fifth year and guarantees him $50M for the other four including two which would be around $1M.
I think that it is two but it could be one.
It sure would be nice if Pittsburgh had an owner who cared.
Along with the Twins and the Rockies…
These guys are like a minor league team
They could probably get 6 or more players for him, if they trade him right now!
Just what we need 6 mostly mediocore players which is what the Pirates would accept. I don’t trust this front office anymore than the one who traded Cole and received Musgrove and a bunch of mediocore players in return.
Cole was never worth what Skenes is RIGHT NOW
But for whatever reason he was worth more than what they got for him.
He had had some injuries and I think that Huntington wanted him out of there as he did also.
I do not doubt that he got as much as he could while being concerned that a serious injury would essentially eliminate what trade value that he had.
No-no Joe is mediocre? Not sure what world you live in.
Musgrove was the only one that wasn’t mediocre
The third baseman was a filler for a couple of years and the other two were throw ins.
It was basically Cole for Musgrove but Cole was the much more proven pitcher at the time although Musgrove was much younger.
One would have thought that Huntington could have received a couple of good solid players like Musgrove for Cole who was one of the best pitchers in the NL.
If a trade offer was made that was a cant lose offer then it should be considered
Could the front office talk Skubal into agreeing to a 5 ,7 or more years extension IF they trade for Skenes – sign them both for identical years?
Do you think both pitchers would be agreeable, IF they could be on the same team.for a period with a discounted salary, say $35M.
Would that be appealing to the jocks competative nature or no? Money rules?
Maybe? But only if the Tigers send back Clark, McGonigle, Keith, Malloy and Sears.
I guess the Dodgers will have to settle for Skubal to replace Kershaw in the rotation…
Yes I’m trolling, sorta.
Gotta imagine this is Cherrington’s last shot at competing. Nutting is a cheapskate, but if you move Keller, you still have a great rotation playing for pennies, and a decent chunk of change to get just a bit of offense.
If they still aren’t playing meaningful games in late September, I think its fair to hold the GM accountable.
I don’t see Cherrington staying unless they finish with a winning record. It will be interesting to follow and see who his replacement would be, they’d be the one eventually trading Skenes away.
Yeah-Pirates should trade Keller for a good plug-and-play bat (not prospects). Add another reliable bat in FA and 1 motivated prove it bounceback candidate (who specifically not sure)to at least have the chance of an “okay” offense for supporting its young/cheap rotation.
I agree and think all of that is possible. It won’t take any more offense than that to reach .500 with that pitching staff, The real question is whether or not Cherington can make that happen.
The issue with Keller is that teams in win now mode won’t like trading much from their roster and teams who are in more sell/rebuild mode won’t like his salary
It’s not that difficult in offseason to work out the puzzle pieces in a subsequent move if necessary. RSox for example have OF depth to use and budget if they like Keller. DBacks have a good offense and can help pitching be less of a mess. NYM will likely spend instead, but they could also make multiple moves to add a mid-rotation SP like that with known cost.
Of course it will never happen in the boys club of MLB, but the Pirates should be stripped of a franchise / forced to sell. The weakest links in baseball are the clubs that don’t even try.
Oh, and don’t believe it when they “post a loss” for the year.
Something for Pirate fans to consider, you are losing with him on your roster. You will lose without him so does it really matter? Bad ownership is the problem.
Captain obvious. We still like the team and want them to win and it’s exciting having one of the best pitchers in the league. We can’t just will Nutting to sell the team. Gotta work within the parameters they have.
The one, other than the owner, who shouldn’t be a Pirate in ’26 is Cherington. Still basking from his fluke success a dozen years ago. He knows next to nothing. Even with a semi-generous owner, he’d fail.
They will deal him if a good enough deal comes along. YES, I know I said he would be a pirate in ’26. But fans I did this for you. We got 4 top prospects back for him.
Comments are comments. No relevancy at all. They can all be explained away.
Skenes would have to bring back so much I doubt any team would be able to afford it going into 2026. Probably would have to be a three team deal.
He’s got like 4 more years of team control so why would the pirates try and trade him?
Oh Ben lol…..For now
I’m a Pirate fan since 1966, have watched the good times and of course the ultra bad times. Was a season ticket holder for 30 years but ended my ticket holder status since Nutting became the majority owner
I haven’t been to PNC Park since 2008
That said, as pessimistic as I have become since Cherington has been GM, he’s in the last year of his contract in ‘26, so if he wants a future in baseball he will have to make this team complete in 26
How about a trade with Baltimore…Skenes for Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez
and prospects Heston Kjerstad or Samuel Basallo?
Kjerstad isn’t a prospect anymore, Basallo just signed a long term deal, and Rodriguez is a walking triage clinic
If they were to offer that it would be dumb to say no with out going deep into talks.
One well better than average bat.
One great offensive prospect
One back end pitcher floor.
Even with out skenes the pirates will still have the makings of a decent rotation. The added offense would probably more than make up the difference of losing skenes.
I guess it depends on what other FA or Trade options show up. If there is nothing that would be any real upgrade to the offense I would probably do it.
Only guy I’d be excited about really is Gunnar. And how the hell are they gonna pay him? Same situation. Can probably command over 40m a year.
😂😂
Didn’t even notice the mistake. He’s gonna meet the real Doc Brown and Morty McFly(Marty Sr and Jr will be long gone by then. He’ll bring back Grey’s Sports Almanac from 2025 to 2927. Reveal that Livvy Dunne is the real Biff Tannan. She dumps Paul for Maddog Tannan. Who loves that nickname..
😂😂Laughed Out Loud!
I think holding on to Skenes is a waste for both the Pirates and Skenes. Pittsburgh needs position players to become competitive and trading Skenes for the right package could immediately make them a better team. Look at the Chicago White Sox, after trading Crouchet and getting 4 good players from the Red Sox they improved 19 games from 2024 to 2025. While its impossible to solely point to that trade as the only reason they improved 19 games it certainly is a part of it. Skenes was 10-10 with Pittsburg who finished last in thier division and playing with a team that is already competitive would really benefit him and the team.
I would trade Keller for Duran. I would not give up any additional pitchers however. It’s time to add free agents. Signing Grisham, Kim, two 2nd tier relievers along someone for 3B (not sure who). Getting Castelanos for a minor leaguer for DH would be worth the risk. If Griffin can be the 2B star we hope along with Horowitz & Reynolds playing better it’s a much improved team
Editor’s Note: 2026 will be Cherington’s 7th year of tenure. Been living this nightmare of a rebuild for 6 seasons and not going to forget who was responsible……Cherington and Nutting.