Want to know how the Pittsburgh Pirates are doing in 2025? It’s not even June and the conversation has already turned to whether the team should trade away its 22-year-old superstar pitcher for future assets.
Since he was promoted to the majors, Paul Skenes has performed like one of the best pitchers in the majors. In 33 career starts, Skenes has a 2.12 ERA, with 232 strikeouts over 195 2/3 innings. He’s the type of player most franchises would dream of building around, but the Pirates aren’t most franchises.
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With the club once again struggling — the team is 17-34 entering Friday — some have speculated the Pirates would be better off trading Skenes for a bevy of prospects that will help the team in the future.
On the surface, it seemed like a ridiculous notion. Why would the Pirates trade the team’s first legitimate, homegrown superstar since Andrew McCutchen? And why would the team make that move so soon in Skenes’ career?
That chatter grew so loud, however, that the team’s general manager, Ben Cherington, was asked about the possibility. Cherington shut down any idea the Pirates would trade Skenes, saying, “It’s not part of the conversation at all,” per ESPN.
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That’s probably the smart move. Skenes is already one of the best young players in the game, and is under team control through the 2029 MLB season. Trading a player of that caliber so long before free agency would be a clear sign the Pirates are waving the white flag for both 2025 and the short-term future. After enduring some excruciating seasons recently, Pirates fans would likely revolt after seeing one of the team’s only bright spots shipped out.
Given how poorly the team has performed in recent seasons — the Pirates have finished no higher than fourth in the National League Central since 2017 — there are legitimate questions over whether the Pirates will be able to contend while Skenes is under team control.
While the major-league roster needs a lot of work, help is on the way. Pitching prospect Bubba Chandler is expected to be called up any day now. Chandler entered the 2025 season as a top-20 prospect on most lists, and could combine with Skenes to give the Pirates a formidable duo at the top of the rotation. The Pirates have more holes on the roster than Chandler can fill, but at least he gives Pirates fans something to dream on.
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Even in a best-case scenario — where Chandler develops into a top-20 starter — the Pirates will still need to find other ways to improve their roster. The easiest of which involves the team spending money on the free-agent market, something ownership has refused to do over roughly the last decade. The team’s estimated $91.3 million payroll in 2025 ranks 26th in the majors. The rank is fairly typical for the Pirates, who aren’t known for running high payrolls under owner Bob Nutting.
That’s really the main issue facing the franchise. If the team wants to contend, it’s going to need to spend money. If it isn’t going to do that when it already has one of the best pitchers in baseball, what guarantee do fans have that the Pirates will spend once the players acquired in a hypothetical Skenes trade reach the majors?
If the Pirates want to contend — with or without Skenes — organizational changes need to be made. The Pirates already tried to shake things up by firing manager Derek Shelton. Things haven’t improved since then, which should put even more pressure on Cherington to right the ship.
Cherington hasn’t proven up to that task to this point. And the fact he already has to entertain questions about whether he should trade his young ace doesn’t exactly speak well of Cherington’s reputation or track record since he took over as the team’s general manager.
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