The Pittsburgh Pirates are a bad baseball team. They are a poorly-run baseball team. Even the ownership is bad. I'm not exactly breaking news here, much like FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray, when I say whatever the Pirates are doing is not working. Perhaps Ben Cherington and the front office ought to take note of that and reverse course, if there is even time for the Pirates president of baseball operations to do so before he is promptly fired into the sun. Whether it is Cherington in charge or (likely) someone else, Paul Skenes will be at the center of their long-term plans. That makes the latest report from Dan Zangrilli all the more interesting.
Per Zangrilli, the Pirates are interested in an extension with Skenes now. I am also interested in an extension with life itself. Skenes is the odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young. He won the NL Rookie of the Year just last season. He is, by most accounts, the most electrifying starting pitcher in baseball.
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The Pirates want to extend Paul Skenes, even if it's unlikely
The Pirates would be silly not to lock him up long term now if he were interested. But, you see, that is the problem, Zangrilli make that all too clear in his interview on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
"Well, I think that they look at it as a longshot, uphill battle, but that's not going to deter them from trying," Zangrilli said. "So I think that, yes, they're going to absolutely try. Now how successful, obviously, I'm sure that they, again, view it as an uphill battle. Likely is, but again, with the money that they presumably freed up, maybe that is allocated to try and extend this window, okay, because everyone is talking about the timeline, well maybe they can push the finish line back on this and that might be money well spent."
For now, Skenes is signed through the 2030 season. The Pirates are in no rush to extend Skenes, but the longer they wait, the more valuable he could become. It's been just over 1.5 seasons, and Skenes asking price has gone up astronomically since his debut. Do Bob Nutting and Co. really want to take the chance of Skenes' value only increasing?
Paul Skenes will leave Pittsburgh eventually
As much as the Pirates may want to keep Skenes in Pittsburgh, assuming they don't offer him a lifetime contract worth half their weight in gold, he is going to leave. The way Skenes is pitching, there are only a few teams that can afford him. All of those teams are currently paying luxury tax fees. Skenes was born in California, and thus could easily pivot to pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Angels, if they are willing to pony up. That would be devastating for baseball as a whole, but it's a system created long before Rob Manfred took over.
A Skenes extension with the Pirates would be lovely. In fact, it'd be a sign of good health for the game he thrives in. But that's not the reality we live in.