Pirates fans may hate how well Spencer Jones has aged since Paul Skenes chatter

Certain MLB insiders (*cough, cough* Jon Heyman) have been obsessed with forcing the Paul Skenes-to-the-Yankees narrative so hard that they'll take any connection between Skenes and the city of New York as a divine sign of a predetermined future for the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander.

The whole mess began with Heyman suggesting around last year's trade deadline that Yankees' prospect Spencer Jones was off limits for anything other than Skenes. Since then, there have been differing variations of rumors and rumblings, usually with Heyman at the root, going as far as to suggest that the Yankees were prepared to give up a package including Jones, George Lombard Jr., Carlos Lagrange, and Cam Schlittler.

The Pirates had no interest (if this was ever even real). But now, Jones is getting an extended run in New York, and he's looking kind of good. Good enough that it makes you stop and think for a second.

The criticism against the six-foot-seven Jones is that he'll never make enough contact to produce consistently in the bigs. That line of thinking seemed extremely well-founded when Jones, despite going on a mid-season tear last year, finished 2025 ice cold while posting a 36.6% strikeout rate in Triple-A.

Jones has been up and down with the Yankees a few times this year, but since being recalled for the last time on July 22, he's shown real growth. His contact rate is just a tick below 80%, he's limiting the frequency in which he swings at pitches out of the zone, and when he makes contact, he's hitting the snot out of the ball.

Since July 22, Jones is slashing .267/.342/.496 with seven homers and eight steals. The offensive performance is good enough for a 119 wRC+; he's a very good defensive center fielder and possesses 90th-percentile sprint speed despite his mammoth frame.

Spencer Jones and Paul Skenes are moving in opposite directions, but the Pirates would still need more

Skenes has been frustrating to watch of late. His August 25 start made it seem as if he was coming out of his funk, but then he took the ball on September 1 against the hapless San Francisco Giants and gave up five earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. His latest outing was better, but lacking length.

Confidence in his abilities still shouldn't be completely eroded, but until he starts stringing together performances that are up to his lofty standards, there is reason to be concerned.

At the same time, Jones is still striking out 33.8% of the time during his hot streak. While it seems that he's moving in the right direction, there's no guarantee that he won't fall off.

But if the Yankees truly offered up Lombard Jr., Schlittler, and Lagrange with him, there's no other way (with the benefit of hindsight) to view this as a missed opportunity. Schlittler, with a 2.01 ERA and 31.4% strikeout rate over 178 2/3 innings, is basically what Skenes was a year ago, but with two additional years of team control.

Lombard Jr. is experiencing some growing pains at the big league level, and Lagrange is currently injured, but both have tremendous potential. A Lombard Jr.-Konnor Griffin double play combo is the stuff dreams are made of, and Lagrange seems like a weapon one way or another, thanks to his 102 miles per hour fastball.

Then imagine what it would look like for Jones and Esmerlyn Valdez to roam the same outfield. The power potential that duo could provide would be enormous.

At the end of the day, if the Yankees are insistent on trying to acquire Skenes, this is what the Pirates should demand. It won't happen, but depending on the other pieces, a Jones-centric package suddenly doesn't seem so crazy.

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