There's no denying that Paul Skenes is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. At age 23 and just 55 starts into his big league career, Skenes has established himself as an elite power-pitcher posting incredible numbers. This past season, the LSU legend posted a 1.97 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 216 strikeouts across 187.2 innings of work. Thus, it's not surprise to see him listed as the overwhelming favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award.
LSU can scratch one more name off their list of head coach candidates
But the Pittsburgh Pirates organization hasn't done much to help Skenes. He has just 21 wins in his 55 career starts with the Pirates, and the team as a whole is 147-177 (.454 winning percentage) in his two years at the MLB level. The Pirates have failed to put a competitive roster on the field surrounding their Cy Young pitcher, and is wasting the talent of such a generational arm.
Paul Skenes eyeing Pittsburgh departure?
According to NJ.com, a Pirate teammate of Skenes has stated that the star pitcher wants to play for a different MLB team before he hits the free agent market following the 2029 season. "Trust me, he wants to play for the Yankees,” the Skenes teammate told NJ Advance Media. “I’ve heard him say it multiple times.”
Paul Skenes wants to play for the Yankees, one of his Pirates teammates told @RandyJMiller
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 12, 2025
Skenes reportedly has no confidence the Pirates will ever win, and he wants to be traded well before his free agency begins after the 2029 season pic.twitter.com/GbEHc0VdIy
The Pirates are known to hold back on spending money and dishing out multi-year contracts to free agents. They are continuously among the lowest-spending teams in the major leagues. In fact, Pittsburgh has been among the bottom-five payrolls in the big leagues in 16 of their 19 seasons under current owner Bob Nutting, who purchased the franchise in 2007. Their refusal to open the pocketbook has led to losing season after losing season - which makes Skenes' frustration understandable. The Pirates have had just four winning seasons and three playoff appearances over the last 33 years.
Conversely, the Yankees are playoff contenders on a yearly basis and constantly are among the leagues biggest-spenders. No player is too expensive for the Yankees, as they routinely go out and spend large amounts of money in order to sign the best players on the market.
Skenes is set to become a free agent following the 2029 season. At this point, it seems unlikely that the Pirates would be willing to sign him to the massive contract that he deserves. It will be interesting to see if Skenes is traded before the end of his current deal - and if his reported desire to be a Yankee comes true.