Pirates GM Addresses Paul Skenes' Future

Skenes quickly made it to the MLB on May 11, 2024, which saw him dominate early on, starting the All-Star Game, winning National League Rookie of the Year, earning All-MLB First Team honors and finishing third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

He had an incredible first full season at the MLB level, breaking records and making history, such as becoming the first pitcher to start consecutive All-Star games in their first two seasons.

The Pirates reportedly rejected trade interest from numerous teams on Skenes, including the New York Yankees at the most recent deadline.

Cherington shut down trade talks surrounding Skenes back in May and reaffirmed that they would keep Skenes for 2026 at the end of the 2025 season.

He told Kuty that he understands other teams' interest in their star, but will reject them.

“The question gets asked,” Cherington said. “It’s always respectful. Teams have to ask the question, right? I suspect that won’t end. But the answer has been consistent.”

Cherington Wants to Keep Skenes Long Term

The Pirates have a favorable pay structure with Skenes currently, which benefits them now, but calls into question what their plan is going forward.

Skenes enters his final year of pre-arbitration in 2026, where he'll make around $850,000 to $1 million, depending on incentives.

He'll then have three years of arbitration, where he and the Pirates will argue on what he should make per season, before hitting free agency ahead of the 2030 season.

The Pirates could buy off his seasons of arbitration by signing Skenes to an extension, which would keep him past the end of the decade and do so on a team-friendly contract, instead of a much more exorbitant rate when he becomes a free agent.

Skenes would also get paid a much higher salary earlier on, instead of having to wait for that big contract next decade.

The Pirates hadn't discussed a contract extension with Skenes prior to this season's completion, as he said in the final homestand that he didn't want to deal with contract negotiations in the season.

Cherington said at the end of the season that they want to keep Skenes around for the future of the franchise and that they share his desire to win.

"Well, it's obvious that on and off the field he is someone we would want to have for as long as possible," Cherington said. "Every team would say that. He exemplifies, in my experience with him, he lives, he walks the walk in every possible way and we need, not every player would do it quite at the level he does, but we certainly need even more of that mindset and just approach toward his craft, his approach toward winning, on top of the stuff he does off the field.

"So he's clearly someone that is at the center of our thoughts a lot. He wants to win really badly too. I expect that at some point every year you talk about contract, you talk about contract with everybody so that's going to come for us at some point anyway and of course, he's someone we'd love to have here for a long time."