Paul Skenes earns Cy Young bonus and Bob Nutting avoids the bill (of course)

For Paul Skenes, winning the 2025 National League Cy Young Award came with an extra incentive.

The Pittsburgh Pirates ace, who won the award for the NL's best pitcher in just his first full major league season, was also awarded a $2.5 million cash bonus from the Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool –– a $50 million bonus program established by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in the 2022 CBA to give more money to young players who have not yet qualified for salary arbitration.

Good for Skenes. He deserves every bit of that $2.5 million. But here’s the part that sticks in Pittsburgh fans’ throats: None of that money comes from Pirates owner Bob Nutting. Zero. Not one dime.

The Office of the Commissioner funds the bonus pool and therefore foots the entire bill for Skenes' cash reward. Meanwhile, the Pirates pay their ace only the league minimum salary and pat themselves on the back for being “supportive.”

And that is precisely why Pirates fans should be irate. The league literally had to create a system to fairly compensate elite young players during their cost-controlled years because of teams like the Pirates that refuse to do so.

Paul Skenes earning $2.5 million from MLB overshadows the fact that Bob Nutting didn't reward him at all

Teams like the Pirates underpay stars. They take advantage of service time rules. They hide behind "pre-arbitration" and "small market" excuses. They refuse to give generational players anything above the bare minimum. The pre-arb pool is practically a "Pirates Tax" the league created to ensure Skenes gets something resembling real money.

Avoiding paying anyone more than he absolutely has to is the core of Nutting's business model. Of course he wasn't going to give Skenes a bonus or a raise; that's not how he operates. He will gladly let MLB write the check and then talk about "process" and "future sustainability" while Skenes carries the entire franchise on his back.

Imagine being the Pirates: Your homegrown No. 1 overall pick wins the Cy Young at 23. He becomes the face of your franchise and the best story you’ve had since Andrew McCutchen’s MVP. And yet, the only major financial recognition he receives comes from the league –– not from you. That's embarrassing. It's infuriating. And it's extremely on-brand.

Pirates fans should be furious — not because Skenes is getting paid, but because the Pirates didn’t have to pay him. It perfectly encapsulates everything about the Nutting era: Let the league shoulder the cost, keep payroll microscopic, milk generational talent at bargain rates, and pray fans don't notice the pattern.

Except this time? Everyone noticed. Skenes got his bonus, the Pirates got a PR win, and Nutting got to keep his checkbook closed.

In other words, it's the most Pirates outcome imaginable.