Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Is a Paul Skenes Trade Coming?

A trade might save Paul Skenes?

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Pirates are wasting a generational talent, and it’s becoming harder to ignore. Paul Skenes has been everything they could’ve hoped for, and more. He’s already a Rookie of the Year, an All-Star Game starter, and one of the most dominant young pitchers in the game. His 1.96 ERA and 11 wins as a rookie set the tone. This year, he’s kept up the excellence, pitching to a sub-3.00 ERA over his first 10 starts. The Pirates, meanwhile, have gone 3-7 in those games. His personal record is also a frustrating 3-5. The bats go cold, the bullpen collapses, and the franchise just doesn’t seem built to win.

Paul Skenes Incinerating Bryce Harper.

99, 99, 100 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/XKFcIWsCmu
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 18, 2025

Pittsburgh is 17-33, the fourth-worst record in Major League Baseball, and in the midst of yet another lifeless season. They did virtually nothing this offseason to support their ace. And now, as the Pirates spiral, questions are bubbling up: what’s best for Paul Skenes?

It’s a painful thing to ask this early in a star’s career, but it says everything about the Pirates’ trajectory, or lack thereof, that it’s already become a conversation. It’s not just fans or frustrated media types tossing the idea around. Rival front offices are doing the math too.

“There are teams that are already going to ask about Paul Skenes at the trade deadline,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan said on The Pat McAfee Show last week. And why wouldn’t they?

ALSO READ: Paul Skenes Reacts to Derek Shelton Firing With a Quiet Message for the Pirates Front Office

According to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the Pirates’ internal stance is simple: “no chance, no way, no how.” That was reportedly the team’s response to trade inquiries. But baseball is a business. And even the firmest “no” has a shelf life when you’re already 17-33, without a long-term plan, and sitting on a player who could return a franchise-altering haul.

Pirates source: Paul Skenes is not getting traded. “No chance, no way, no how,” is the way I heard it. While there’s a bit of logic to such a scenario, superstars just aren’t traded by anyone with 1 year service time and the Pirates remain determined to build around Skenes.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 21, 2025

So… what if?

A Wild But Possible Paul Skenes Trade Proposal

Let’s dare to imagine the unthinkable. Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer floated a hypothetical: the Chicago Cubs making a blockbuster deal for Skenes.

In the proposal, the Cubs send:

Cade Horton (MLB Pipeline No. 18)
Matt Shaw (No. 35)
Owen Caissie (No. 49)

Three top-50 prospects in exchange for one generational ace.

For the Cubs, who’ve patched holes but haven’t solidified their rotation amid injuries to Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, it would be a seismic move. For the Pirates, it’s a ticket to a more robust rebuild, a chance to inject premium talent into a directionless roster.

ALSO READ: Pirates Fans Show Up for Paul Skenes Bobblehead, Team Doesn’t Show Up at All

Would it hurt? Absolutely. Trading Paul Skenes would be a gut punch. But keeping him in the middle of a teardown, giving him nothing but Ls might be worse.

The Harsh Truth

Skenes has kept his tone professional, but he hasn’t hidden his frustration. He recently admitted that it’s been “difficult” to keep watching the team lose despite his own success. And how could it not be? He’s done his part. The organization hasn’t. For fans, it’s demoralizing to watch brilliance get smothered in mediocrity. For Skenes, it’s a ticking clock. He’s just 22 now, but windows in baseball don’t stay open forever and we’ve all seen how often pitchers get injured today, and how a career can take a drastic turn for the worse after an injury.

And maybe that’s the most important reminder here, as much as we talk about Skenes like he’s a hardened ace, he’s still new to all this. A 22-year-old phenom dropped into a team that can’t seem to get out of its own way.

ALSO READ: Does Firing Derek Shelton Actually Solve the Pirates’ Problems?

But if Pittsburgh won’t, or can’t, change, maybe the only real move is to change the scenery.

Paul Skenes

Pirates

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.