Paul Skenes earns MLB's highest pre-arbitration bonus after full reveal

After Paul Skenes officially won the Cy Young award, Pittsburgh knew he was set for a pay day. Since he is in his pre-arbitration years and took home the honor, he receives a $2.5M bonus for the award. In addition to that sum, Skenes will also receive a portion of the collectively bargained pool to account for his ranking among the top 100 "qualified players based on a Wins Above Replacement formula that has been agreed to by Major League Baseball and the Major League Players Association." That means Skenes' total is $3.4 million extra dough, the most out of any player eligible for a bonus.

Fortunately for Bob Nutting, he doesn't need to pay the entirety of this bonus, courtesy of the collective bargaining agreement. This motive was to help get the younger stars in baseball paid earlier, since pre-arbitration players only make around the league minimum of $760k. All 30 owners pay around $1.67M into a pool that adds up to $50M and is distributed to deserving players.

Skenes is the prime example of why this initiative was put in place in the most recent CBA. He has earned $5,588,400 in two years due to this part of the agreement. Without it, he would have only made about $1.4M from the $500k his rookie year and base salary in 2025.

With the money Nutting was forced to put into this pool, he is basically paying Skenes half of that bonus. Unfortunately, this may hurt the Pirates long term.

Paul Skenes earns the highest pre-arbitration bonus from Cy Young win, but sets Pirates up for financial fate.

Once Skenes gets to arbitration, his salary will rise dramatically. This Cy Young win and bonus he received sets the baseline of what he could earn. Following the 2026 season, Skenes will be arbitration eligible for the first time, and he could make history. In 2020, Cody Bellinger made history, setting the first-year arbitration record at $11.5M.

There is a good chance Skenes breaks that record, putting the Pirates in a scary situation. While there has been plenty of buzz this offseason about the Pirates increasing payroll, it could be tough to see that same attitude when Skenes is getting a boatload of money.

Four other Pirates recieved a bonus from this pool. Spencer Horwitz got $275,190, Oneil Cruz received $221,795, Jared Triolo earned $216,057, and Braxton Ashcraft gained $212,924. While none of these players won an award, their solid seasons were recognized and got them some money.

This piece of the CBA forced Nutting to pay some of his players. Skenes was the most notable, getting paid the most out of any pre-arbitration player.