Each season, the MLB trade deadline sparks a lot of rumors. Some of these rumors end up coming true, such as the New York Yankees landing Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the Los Angeles Dodgers landing Jack Flaherty last season. Both of those moves were heavily rumored before they happened. But a bulk of the rumors never come to fruition and some of them are downright ridiculous. Potentially the most ridiculous rumor swirling around baseball this season revolves around the Pittsburgh Pirates and superstar pitcher Paul Skenes.
There are some members of the media who believe the Pirates could and should entertain the idea of trading Skenes this season.
With all these rumors swirling, that begs the question: should the Pirates entertain the idea of trading Skenes before the trade deadline this season?
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No, the Pirates should not trade Paul Skenes this season
Why is this even a question? Skenes is potentially the most valuable player in the entire league, even more valuable than Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani because of his incredibly team-friendly contract. Skenes is set to be in Pittsburgh through the 2029 season, which gives the Pirates plenty of time to add talent around him.
The idea of trading Skenes is simple. Some argue the Pirates can't win with just one talented player. They need more. And that's true. Skenes alone won't win a team a World Series. But trading him isn't going to fix the massive issues in the front office.
Even if the Pirates were able to trade Skenes for two or three big league players and two or three high-level prospects, they wouldn't be a World Series contender. That's because the front office is so unwilling to spend money that it would be best to take advantage of Skenes' time in pre-arbitration rather than trying to trade him for five or six talented players.
Landing a few stars won't cause Bob Nutting and the Pirates front office to sign a few free agents to build the roster up. The only thing that trading Skenes would accomplish is enraging a fanbase that's already not happy with the front office.
Could you imagine the scenes in the Steel City if the front office traded the most popular baseball player the team has had in a decade?