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The Pittsburgh Pirates sit in the cellar of the National League Central, a place they know all too well as they’ve spent four of the last six seasons there. With the Pirates’ persistent struggles, many thought there may be a chance that the Pirates would trade their superstar ace, Paul Skenes, to reload the farm system.
MLB insider Jon Heyman shoots down any speculation with a Pirates source telling him, “No chance”.
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The Pirates are committed to building around Skenes and that he will be a building block of the rotation and the future of the Pirates. The Pirates’ ace is under team control until 2029 and while the Pirates could buy out many of the arbitration years with an extension the Bob Nutting ownership tenure is not known for spending big, only spending a total of $19.95 million this past offseason.
While there was no true trade rumor another MLB insider, Jeff Passan, suggested the Pirates move on from Skenes, on the Pat McAfee Show, as he is at the height of his value with his age, talent and years of team control left. Passan’s comments were simply a suggestion and were not the words of a report that he was hearing the Pirates would trade their ace.
The Pirates will likely move on from their star before his team control is up unless ownership changes its ways and decides to spend and extend the superstar. The Pirates have one player who has signed a contract worth $100 million or more, and that was Bryan Reynolds when he signed a $106.8 million extension over eight seasons. Skenes would certainly command more than Reynolds and will likely be one of, if not the highest paid, pitchers in baseball when he hits the open market.
But for now the Pirates are standing pat and will build around their ace in hopes to turn the franchises fortune around.
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