Pirates given another unfortunate Paul Skenes preview after Reds-Elly De La Cruz situation

The Cincinnati Reds just handed the Pittsburgh Pirates an uncomfortable little sneak peek into their own future with Paul Skenes.

According to reports, Cincinnati made All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz an extension offer in 2025 that would’ve topped the franchise-record deal Joey Votto signed (10 years, $225 million). De La Cruz said no anyway. The MLB.com version of the story frames it the same way: the Reds tried to lock him up early, and he declined while continuing on the normal path toward arbitration and, eventually, free agency. 

If you’re the Pirates watching all of this play out, you’re not just seeing a Reds storyline. You’re seeing a Paul Skenes preview––one that is not going to make you feel better.

Pirates caught an uneasy glimpse of how the Paul Skenes extension story could go

Here’s the part that should hit Pittsburgh the hardest: the Reds didn’t lowball De La Cruz. And yet, it still wasn’t enough. Because for superstar-level talent, the decision isn’t just about security. It’s about leverage.

De La Cruz can look at the game’s economy and do the math: if he keeps producing, the price of his talent rises. And the ability to choose the situation — not just the paycheck — rises with it. That’s the part Pirates fans need to understand: “We’ll just extend him early” isn’t a plan. 

Now translate that to Skenes, who isn’t a five-tool shortstop but is the kind of premium, needle-moving asset every team dreams about building around. The Pirates already played the service-time chess game when they promoted him in May 2024, at a point when he couldn’t reach a full year of service time through days on the roster alone. 

But Cincinnati’s De La Cruz situation is the reminder that control doesn’t equal comfort. You can have six-ish years of team control and still spend that entire window holding your breath. Because the moment you start talking extension, the player’s camp can say what De La Cruz effectively said: Thanks, but we’re good. We’ll bet on ourselves.

And if the Reds — a franchise that did step up with a franchise-record type offer — couldn’t get the handshake? What exactly are the Pirates supposed to do when Skenes reaches the stage where his “franchise-record” number would need to be historic?

The De La Cruz news is a reminder that the smarter Pirates conversation isn’t “Will Skenes sign long-term?” It’s: are the Pirates building a team worthy of his prime while they have him? Are they spending like they understand the clock is ticking? Are they treating Skenes like a marketing asset, or like a competitive advantage you maximize aggressively?

Because if you’re waiting on the extension to validate the era, you’re going to lose the plot. The extension might never come because the player knows exactly how rare his leverage is.

Cincinnati tried to do the thing fans beg small-market teams to do. They offered the big number. They made the serious gesture.  And the answer still came back: not yet.

Sometimes the right move doesn’t guarantee the outcome, which means the Pirates can’t treat the Skenes era like it’s something they’ll negotiate into permanence later. They have to treat it like it’s precious now — and build like it.