Ben Cherington Throws Cold Water on Ridiculous Paul Skenes Trade Suggestions

PITTSBURGH — Some notable people around the game have suggested that the Pittsburgh Pirates should consider trading reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.

That’s not happening. It was never going to happen this early, and general manager Ben Cherington confirmed as much when speaking to reporters at PNC Park on Thursday.

“No, it’s not at all part of the conversation,” the usually thorough Cherington plainly said.

The fact that Cherington needed to say as much is as ridiculous as the suggestions made on social media and national broadcasts and podcasts.

It hasn’t even been two years since the Pirates made Skenes the top pick out of LSU in the 2023 draft.

It’s hardly been one calendar year since Skenes stepped onto the mound at PNC Park for the first time. Since then? The soon-to-be 23-year-old has already emerged as one of the game’s top starting pitchers.

Skenes won the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year after a historic first season. He finished 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and set the franchise rookie record with 170 strikeouts.

Through his first 10 starts this season, Skenes has a 3-5 record but a strong 2.44 ERA, which ranks fourth in the National League.

Yes, the Pirates have been abysmal this season. They’ve already changed managers and are 17-33 through 50 games. They’re 13 games behind the division-leading Cubs and are 11 games out of a wild card spot entering Thursday’s game against the Brewers.

They’d be far worse without a generational-type talent anchoring their starting rotation. And don’t give me that Branch Rickey line to Ralph Kiner in 1953.

Why would the Pirates ever consider trading a premier starting pitcher when he’s this inexpensive? No package of prospects would exceed his value.

And not that this should factor into the decision, but could you imagine the message trading Skenes would send to an already irate fan base?

There will be a day when the Pirates inevitably have to trade Skenes. That’s just how the league is designed, and more importantly in this situation, how the Pirates operate.

But that day isn’t close to coming. It won’t happen this year. It won’t happen the year after, or even the year after that. The 2027-28 offseason is realistically the first time the Pirates would consider a trade. It’s the offseason in which Skenes will head to arbitration for the second time.

Despite the track record for the better part of the last 30 years, the Pirates want to build a winning team. That monumental task is significantly easier with Paul Skenes atop the rotation.