Red Sox Get Estimated 5-Player Paul Skenes Trade Package From MLB Exec

It sounds as though the Boston Red Sox, for all intents and purposes, have no chance at actually trading for the Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes.

The Pirates are absolutely atrocious, and they've shown no intention of spending enough on payroll to field a competitive team around Skenes. That led to recent speculation that the generational talent could be traded with four-and-a-half years remaining on his rookie contract.

However, one Pirates source nixed that idea by telling Jon Heyman of the New York Post that there was "no chance" the 22-year-old was getting traded this season. So any Red Sox fans earnestly putting their hopes into a Skenes deal definitely need to temper their expectations.

That doesn't mean, though, that we can't speculate what it would take for the Red Sox to pull off a deal that the Pirates would accept. If one American League executive's estimate is accurate, though, there's almost no chance Boston would consider it.

In an article published on Thursday, the anonymous executive told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com that the Red Sox would have to send a five-player package consisting of their entire "big three" top prospect trio, plus two more established big-leaguers.

“If they looked to trade him now, I think something like 1.5 times the Soto deal would be a starting point,” the exec said. “The reality is that few teams have that many good players to trade.

"I guess the Red Sox could send [Triston] Casas, [Roman] Anthony, [Marcelo] Mayer, [Kristian] Campbell and [Tanner] Houck, assuming they won’t trade their extended guys. Writing that down makes me think, ‘Hmmm, maybe Pittsburgh should make a call.’”

There are some Red Sox fans out there who would probably consider the idea of sending Anthony in any trade package blasphemy. Adding both Mayer and Campbell would wipe out the entire wave of young talent that's been exciting the fan base for over a year.

Skenes is so good, though, that the Pirates would be justified in asking. And that's why he's almost certainly not getting traded, to Boston or anywhere else.