The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best players in the league with ace Paul Skenes atop their pitching staff. Skenes isn't just one of the best young pitchers in the National League, he's one of the top players in baseball, period. Regardless of age, position, or league, Skenes is among the best in the sport.
Yet the Pirates have done nothing to support him and his pursuit of excellence in Pittsburgh. Instead of going out and trying to be better, spending a little bit of money and signing free agents to contribute in 2025, Bob Nutting has sat on his hands and left the entire fanbase out to dry.
There's almost no chance the Pirates will be able to re-sign Skenes from a financial aspect, so winning while he's in Pittsburgh seems like the Pirates' only chance at success over the next decade or two.
But Nutting continues to cheap out and prove to the baseball world just how quickly an owner can ruin the first few years of a superstar's career.
During a recent game with the Tampa Bay Rays, the broadcast team for Tampa Bay joined in to troll the Pirates and their historically horrendous leadership under Nutting.
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Rays broadcast hilariously trolls tragic Pirates trade history
While the mismanagement of the team around Skenes is ridiculous, it might not even be the worst move the Pirates have made in the last ten years. In fact, the Rays' broadcast pointed out seven pitchers the Pirates have traded away over the last ten years who have gone on to be very successful after leaving Pittsburgh.
Rays broadcast trolling the Pirates bad trades now. This is getting ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/HQ3wULBFBT
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) April 2, 2025
The seven pitchers mentioned, Charlie Morton, Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Shane Baz, Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, and Clay Holmes, have combined for a 3.38 ERA with a 329-189 record since leaving Pittsburgh. Multiple names on this list have won the World Series since their days in Pittsburgh while the Pirates are left with nothing to show for it.
Putting it into perspective like this makes things much worse for the Pirates. Making one or two bad trades is one thing, but for it to be a habit that they'll draft talent, develop them, just to trade them to a contender is comical at this point.
Skenes could be the next name on this list unless Nutting shocks the world and puts together some kind of contract offer for him.