Jeff Passan slams Bob Nutting for failing Paul Skenes in Cy Young caliber season

Paul Skenes didn't just meet the lofty expectations that were set for him in 2025 after his 2024 National League Rookie of the Year win; he exceeded them.

Skenes finished his sophomore campaign – his first full season in MLB – with a 10-10 record and a 1.97 ERA in 187 2/3 innings across 32 starts. He recorded 216 strikeouts to just 42 walks, holding opponents to a .199 batting average. He had an 0.95 WHIP, along with a 10.36 K/9, a 2.01 BB/9 and a 5.14 K/BB.

Skenes is going to win the National League Cy Young Award, and it's not going to be particularly close. In fact, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan said during a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee show that he expected Skenes to win the award unanimously. Passan also used that as an opportunity to publicly scold Pirates owner Bob Nutting for failing to surround his generational talent with some quality offense.

"The Pittsburgh Pirates are three bats away from being a playoff team right now and the only way that they're going to go out and get those bats is if their owner goes out and spends some freaking money," Passan said. "And if not now, then when, Pat? At what point do you see all of this talent that you have and say to yourself, 'We need to take this opportunity and give the fans of Pittsburgh what they deserve. The losing, we've had enough of it.'"

Jeff Passan urges Bob Nutting to spend (again), build quality Pirates roster around Paul Skenes

The Pirates have assembled a quality pitching staff behind Skenes, with arms like Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and Hunter Barco comprising one of the most promising young rotations in the league. But their offense consistently ranks among the worst in all of baseball, and it's hardly a coincidence that their payroll ranked 27th out of 30 MLB teams in 2025.

As one anonymous Pirates player told Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates' 2025 roster played to its potential. Finishing with a 71-91 record, at the bottom of the NL Central, is absolutely what should have been expected from a team with a bottom-five payroll – even with arguably the best pitcher in baseball on their roster.

Good pitching will only get you so far, and therein lies the problem. As long as Nutting refuses to spend the money necessary to add at least three quality bats to the Pirates' lineup, they will remain a last-place team, stuck in an endless rebuilding cycle with Skenes unable to save them.