Pirates' stance on trading Paul Skenes called into question by The Athletic

The Pittsburgh Pirates, thus far, haven't entertained the idea of trading away Paul Skenes.

The superstar right-handed pitcher is only two seasons into his MLB career, but already during the 2025 campaign, the speculation started.

If the Pirates weren't good enough to make Skenes worthwhile, the thinking went, maybe they'd be better off trading him.

They didn't seem to give that serious thought themselves, though, as Skenes was on his way to winning the NL Cy Young.

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Now, the Pirates have had a strong offseason, praised by The Athletic's Jim Bowden in a new article.

Bowden also asks a question that no Pirates fans will want to think about, though.

"If the Pirates are not in the postseason race at the trade deadline, will they reconsider their stance on trading Paul Skenes (who will have three and a half years of control remaining)?" Bowden wonders.

It's a fair question, at least as fair as it was for people to be asking the same thing last season.

Small-market teams have to decide on such things at a faster pace than their large-market counterparts, because a team like the Pirates is much less likely to ever be able to give Skenes the contract extension of massive money that he almost certainly will warrant when his current deal is up.

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Skenes would command a generational trade package in return, the kind that, if done right, can bolster the Pirates for the future.

But they'd much prefer to be competitive with Skenes and having him starting the first game of a playoff series sooner rather than later.

It's just a question posed by Bowden, nothing more. But it does show the importance of being competitive in the season ahead for Pittsburgh.

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