Rare Paul Skenes rookie card highlights sad state of affairs for Pirates and MLB

Is Paul Skenes the best pitcher in the world right now? It might be premature to make that kind of declaration, but he had a rookie season to remember. Skenes posted a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts and 133 innings of work for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had more appearances in which he went at least six innings without allowing a single hit (2) than ones that saw him allow more than three runs (1). He was the NL Rookie of the Year, and was a Cy Young finalist as well.

Given all Skenes accomplished in his rookie year, there is no hotter commodity on the baseball card market than the right-hander's exclusive one-of-one Rookie Debut Autograph card. Bob Nutting, an owner known for his frugalness, was willing to offer an absolute haul in order to have the card in his possession, but instead, the 11-year-old kid who wound up pulling the card opted to put it up for auction in a decision that felt like a no-brainer at the time.

That 11-year-old's decision has proven to be the right one in record time, and continues to look better every day. As of this writing, the winning bidder would have to spend $660,000 to get the card, and there are still a little bit less than eight days to go on the bidding according to the Fanatics Collect website.

Given the amount of time remaining, there's a very good chance that the winner of this card will have to end up spending more money than Skenes will even make on his 2025 salary. That's absurd.

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Paul Skenes card bid highlights frustration for Pirates and MLB

Skenes' card going for as much as it is going to shows just how popular of a player he already is. Chances are, as he continues to acclimate to being in the major leagues, he's only going to get better. I mean, Skenes has already added a nasty pitch to his repertoire this offseason in an effort to somehow top what he accomplished as a rookie.

Given how bright Skenes' future is, how likely is it that he remains in Pittsburgh for very long? Sure, he's under team control until 2030, but does anyone really trust Nutting to even be in the same stratosphere as what Skenes might be looking for financially, assuming he comes close to meeting his lofty expectations? The best time for Nutting to get something done with Skenes would be right now when he only has 23 starts under his belt. The larger his track record of success gets, the less likely it is for Nutting to get something done. Nutting's inactivity in that regard makes it unlikely that an extension will be reached anytime soon.

Instead, the likelihood of Skenes ending up in a Dodgers jersey feels extraordinarily high. The bggest question is how much deferred money he'll accept.

To take matters even further, how depressing is this from MLB's perspective? Skenes already is one of the best players in the sport, and yet he's making just $875,000 this season. What makes that even crazier is that Skenes is making $115,000 above the MLB minimum, meaning that Nutting is actually being a bit generous financially (for once). Despite having Skenes (as well as Jared Jones and Mitch Keller) on a ridiculously team-friendly deal, the Pirates' lineup projects to be one of the worst in the National League.

Skenes is almost certainly going to get absurd money down the line if he can stay healthy, but MLB players making scraps relative to most athletes in the first three years of their careers makes it tough for them to cash in on a truly life-changing payday. It's really hard to envision a baseball card going for more than one year of the player whose likeness is on the card, but that's almost certainly going to be the reality.