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Sep 7, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks in the outfield before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Pirates' Paul Skenes Addresses Yankees Rumor

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Nov 13, 2025 7:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes just finished an incredible season, but still deals with reports of his imminent departure, whether by his desire or the team moving on from him.

Skenes Rumored Desire to Pitch For the Yankees

Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media wrote an article on Skenes, saying he wants to pitch for the New York Yankees and that the Pirates understand it.

Miller quoted an unnamed Pirates teammate of Skenes, who said that Skenes has “no confidence the Pirates ever are going to win” and that he is, “hoping for a trade” before he becomes a free agent in 2030.

“Trust me, he wants to play for the Yankees,” the Skenes teammate reportedly said to Miller. “I’ve heard him say it multiple times.”

Miller also reportedly spoke to Pirates general manager Ben Cherington at the general manager meetings in Las Vegas about the Yankees rumor, to which Cherington said that they want to win with Skenes in Pittsburgh.

“I do dismiss it, but I understand it,” the Pirates executive said Tuesday at The Cosmopolitan. “What we’re going to focus on is just how do we win games with him in a Pirates uniform.

Skenes Shuts Down Yankees Rumor, Wants to Win with Pirates

Skenes celebrated the highest honor for any pitcher by winning the National League Cy Young Award unanimously.

He became the third Pirates pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, along with Doug Drabek in 1990, who announced Skenes winning the award on MLB Network, and Vern Law in 1960.

Skenes spoke to the media following the award and addressed the rumor of him wanting to join the Yankees.

He said that he didn't care for the article and that his main focus is on winning with the Pirates and changing the perception around the franchise.

“I got shown the Tweet and really didn’t think anything of it," Skenes said. "I got some texts about it. I’m on the Pirates, my goal is to win with the Pirates. I love the City of Pittsburgh. The fans are hungry to have a winner in Pittsburgh and I want to be a part of the group that did that. I think about it the same way as when I was at the Air Force Academy. We had never been to a conference championship and my sophomore year we ended up winning the conference. We had never finished in the top four in the conference before that."

“Pittsburgh, the way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is not supposed to win. There are 29 fan bases that expect us to lose. I want to be a part of the group, a part of the 26 guys that change that.”

“I don’t know where that came from, the goal is to win. I don’t know the reporter that reported it. I don’t know the player that supposedly said that, but the goal is to win and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.”

"The way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is not supposed to win. There are 29 fanbases that expect us to lose. And I want to be a part of the 26 guys that change that."

Paul Skenes was asked about the report saying he told teammates he wants to play for NYY. pic.twitter.com/Bhofiz7Z6a
— Jenna Harner (@JennaHarner11) November 13, 2025

Pirates Keeping Skenes for 2026 Season, Future

The Pirates have received interest in Skenes since he made his MLB debut on May 11, 2024, but have remained steadfast in their belief that the 23-year old is the leader of the franchise going forward.

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 and did so again at the general manager meetings.

“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.”

The Yankees were reportedly a team interested in trading for Skenes, even willing to part ways with many of their top prospects.

Skenes enters his final year of pre-arbitration in 2026, where he'll make around $850,000 to $1 million, or even more 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 and Skenes hadn't discussed a contract extension during the season, but Cherington said after the campaign that they want Skenes around for the long-term.

"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."