Pirates fans done with radio host's ridiculous peddling of Yankees-Paul Skenes trade

Pirates fans have grown accustomed to seeing Paul Skenes' name on the proverbial trade block. With the deadline just over a month away, Andrew Fillipponi's trade proposal is the first, but certainly not the last, pundit to float a possible Skenes trade this season.

While the Pirates right-hander hasn't been as dominant of late as fans grew accustomed to in his 2025 NL Cy Young-winning campaign, he remains one of the elite starting pitchers in all of baseball. Trading Skenes with two-plus years of control left on his deal would not be wise. What makes Fillipponi's trade proposal even worse is that the New York Yankees — the other side of his garbage deal — would almost certainly not accept. Yes, this is a rare lose-lose deal involving Skenes.

Paul Skenes trade proposal gets ratio'd by Pirates fans

As Pirates fans rightly point out, trading Skenes right now doesn't make all that much sense. Pittsburgh is chasing an NL Wild Card spot primarily because of their starting rotation and a lineup Ben Cherington built to contend right away. Sure, Pittsburgh has disappointed in some aspects, namely in the field and bullpen. Yet, trading Skenes in an effort to start over guarantees the Pirates won't make the postseason for the 11th-straight season and beyond.

Again, this happens every year. Skenes is the face of the Pirates franchise, even as Konnor Griffin quickly rises the ranks as one of the best infielders in baseball. Trading Skenes just because he can would assure Cherington's fate this offseason, and it won't work in his favor. If Skip Bayless suggested such a move for rage bait purposes only, he succeeded on that front.

This may be the nature of local sports radio (and media) these days, but it's not a productive conversation to have in part because it's not based in reality. Bob Nutting would surely rather part ways with Cherington than trade Skenes, one of the best pitchers in baseball and the only consistent reason Pirates fans head to the ballpark every fifth day. Pittsburgh already struggles when it comes to fan attendance. Their revenue would take a huge hit by trading Skenes, a pitcher still in his arbitration years.

Why the Yankees wouldn't make this trade for Pirates ace Paul Skenes

What makes matters even worse for Fillipponi is that the Yankees wouldn't even remotely consider this move. Cam Schlitter is an AL Cy Young frontrunner this season. He has a 1.71 ERA in 16 starts. Compare that to Skenes, and acquiring the Pittsburgh right-hander would actually be a downgrade.

When you consider the other aspects of this deal, it gets even worse. Lombard Jr. is the Yankees' top prospect. Brian Cashman is notorious for hoarding such assets, especially because he's under team control for the foreseeable future. The same can be said of Schlitter and any player mentioned by Fillipponi.

In short, this trade package suggests the Yankees would trade a Cy Young frontrunner, their top prospect, another borderline top-100 prospect in Jones AND Will Warren, who has a 3.45 ERA in 15 starts this season for New York. It's a non-starter.

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