Pirates will spend more on exclusive Paul Skenes rookie card than actual Paul Skenes

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a mess. They just missed the postseason for the ninth straight season. They finished with a losing record for the eighth time in those nine years. Their biggest move in response to their lack of competitiveness has been a trade that netted them Spencer Horwitz.

Horwitz is a fine player, but c'mon. The Pirates have a legitimate chance to compete in an NL Central division without a clear favorite and boast one of the best young rotations in the National League. Mitch Keller is an underrated workhorse, Jared Jones flashed ace potential in his rookie year, and Paul Skenes looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball in his first 23 MLB starts.

Despite their young and cheap rotation, the Pirates appear totally satisfied rolling out a lineup led by Bryan Reynolds, O'Neil Cruz, and Horwitz as their three best hitters. The only reason Pirates fans have to watch games at this point is to watch Skenes pitch and hope their team wins 1-0.

With where their team is right now, the fact that the Pirates seem more motivated to buy an exclusive Skenes rookie card than they are to build around their young phenom and keep him in town for a long time is infuriating.

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Pirates appear to care more about Paul Skenes rookie card than Skenes himself

After months of waiting, a fan finally pulled the Skenes 1/1 Debut Patch card. The Pirates want it, and are willing to offer a haul in exchange.

Whether this fan will take Pittsburgh's offer, sell the card, or keep the card, remains to be seen, but again, the Pirates seem more intent on buying this card than paying Skenes or assembling a formidable team around him, as crazy as that sounds.

When asked whether he'd sign an extension with the Pirates, his answer was telling, to say the least, as he said he hasn't given it much thought. Well, if Skenes hasn't given it much thought, chances are, the Pirates either haven't approached him or haven't done anything with the roster to give Skenes something to think about. Why should Skenes commit to them if they aren't eager to lock him up and aren't desperate to win the World Series with him?

Skenes isn't set to hit free agency until after the 2030 season, but assuming he fulfills his potential and is the best pitcher in the game at that point, the Pirates almost certainly won't have a realistic shot to bring him back. They're a small-market team that has historically shied away from giving big-time money to free agents. Bryan Reynolds' eight-year, $106.75 million deal is the largest that the franchise has ever given out. Skenes would earn a lot more than that if he signed a deal right now, and his price will only go up as he builds on his early success.

The time to lock him in, if there is one, is right now. Skenes, while dominant, is still relatively unproven. If he has another great year in 2025, his price will only continue to skyrocket. None of this is even counting the value Skenes brings in off the field, as well.

The best free agent the Pirates have brought in thus far is re-signing 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen, and Pittsburgh has shown no urgency when it comes to extending their best and most marketable player. When they're putting more effort into buying a card than they are into paying the player on the card or improving the team around the player on the card, there's nothing fans can do other than express frustration. Pirates fans deserve so much more than what Bob Nutting is willing to give them.