Pirates clear lowest of ethical bars with Paul Skenes Rookie of the Year 'sacrifice'

Given the dominant seasons from his fellow finalists, Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, Pittsburgh Pirates pitching phenom Paul Skenes was never a shoo-in for the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Award. In fact, the biggest threat to Skenes' eventual victory way have been the very organization that employs him.

The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players' Association has measures in place to encourage top prospect promotion while also thwarting any attempts at service time manipulation. Namely, if a top-100 prospect is promoted early enough in the season to earn a full year of service time, his club can earn a bonus draft pick the following season depending on where he finishes in Rookie of the Year voting.

On the other hand, if a top-100 prospect is not promoted early enough to get a full year of service time but still manages to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting regardless, he will retroactively earn one full year of service time, while his club forfeits the right to the extra draft pick.

Skenes, who made his Major League debut in May, falls into the latter category. Had he been promoted earlier in the year and still won Rookie of the Year, the Pirates would have earned the bonus draft pick. But since he didn't debut until May, they weren't eligible for the pick.

With a full year of service time, Skenes is now set to become a free agent after the 2029 season at age 27.

Pirates clear lowest of ethical bars with Paul Skenes Rookie of the Year 'sacrifice'

According to an August story from Ken Rosenthal, Zack Meisel and Stephen J. Nesbitt at The Athletic (subscription required), the Pirates could have been tempted to shut Skenes down in August after the club's playoff odds had tanked. Had they done so, they likely would have cited Skenes' long-term health and the possibility of a playoff run in 2025 as justification. But we would all know the real ulterior motive would be to prevent Skenes – who was having an electrifying season already – from finishing first or second in Rookie of the Year voting, thereby depriving him of the year of service time and keeping him under team control in Pittsburgh for at least one additional season.

Ultimately, the Pirates kept pitching Skenes, and the rest is history. He is the NL Rookie of the Year, and it cost Pittsburgh a year of control. But let's not be too quick to pat the Pirates on the back for *checks notes* doing the unquestionably right thing. After all, they need all the karmic good graces they can get after the way they treated Rowdy Tellez last season.

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