Pirates didn’t rush their rebuild until Paul Skenes changed the timeline

Rebuilds are supposed to be slow by design. You draft, you develop, you accept the ugly stretches, and you don’t spend like a contender until the roster proves it’s ready. The Pirates were operating in that lane for a while, and honestly, it made sense.

Then Paul Skenes arrived, and the timeline changed.

A tweet circulating that notes only three players remain from the Pirates' 2023 Opening Day roster isn’t just trivia. It’s evidence. Pittsburgh didn’t simply cycle through guys. They cleared the deck because the organization isn’t in the phase where placeholders are acceptable anymore. When you land an arm like Skenes, the rebuild stops being theoretical and it becomes a clock.

Pirates quietly made a stunning rebuild pivot the moment Skenes arrived

Before Skenes, the Pirates could justify playing it slower. Oneil Cruz getting healthy mattered more than the standings. Bryan Reynolds being steady mattered more than the supporting cast. You could sell the process and tell fans to hang on because the big swing was coming later.

Skenes makes “later” harder to defend. A pitcher who can already look like a playoff ace forces the front office to act like a team that believes it has a real chance in the near term.

That’s why the churn matters. The 2023 roster was a holding pattern, built to eat innings and plate appearances while the core developed behind it. The current approach is different. It’s less about surviving the rebuild and more about building a functional roster around the few pieces that actually move the needle.

This doesn’t mean turnover automatically equals progress. You can change half the roster and still be short on the two things that decide whether a team is serious: impact bats and reliable depth. But it does mean the Pirates have recognized the responsibility that comes with having a talent like Skenes. He raises the standard, and he raises the urgency.

Skenes didn’t just join the rebuild. He forced the Pirates to speed it up. Now the only question is whether they can match the pace they’ve set.