Pirates insiders give disappointing update on Paul Skenes extension

The Pittsburgh Pirates don't often hand out lucrative, long-term contracts; but historically, when they do, it's been during the spring.

Each of the previous three springs have seen the Pirates extend key pieces – third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes (eight years, $70 million) in 2022, outfielder Bryan Reynolds (eight years, $106.75 million) in 2023 and starting pitcher Mitch Keller (five years, $77 million) in 2024. So, naturally, questions have begun to arise as far as which player (if any) Pittsburgh will choose to extend next, and for how much.

It's no secret that the Pirates have a potential franchise cornerstone anchoring their starting rotation in reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, making him the most obvious extension candidate. Skenes will be making pennies compared to his value in 2025, earning an average annual salary of $800,000, and he won't even be eligible for arbitration until 2028.

On one hand, there's no rush for the Pirates to extend Skenes since he will remain under team control for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, his value will presumably only continue to go up, so it may behoove Pittsburgh to strike while the iron's hot and make a push to lock him up long-term now, since they won't be winning any bidding wars if and when Skenes reaches free agency.

Pirates insiders give disappointing update on Paul Skenes extension

Asked about the Pirates' potential plans to sign any players to extensions this spring, Andrew Destin and Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave answers that were disappointing, yet not at all surprising to those familiar with the Pirates' habitual penny pinching.

"I cannot say with confidence that an extension is imminent for any Pirates player," Destin wrote. "There are some logical candidates, like Oneil Cruz, but you have to wonder how much higher the Pirates are willing to allow their payroll to increase considering Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Mitch Keller are all locked up long term. As for Paul Skenes, I cannot say with confidence if anything is on the horizon."

Hiles echoed Destin's choices for Pittsburgh's most obvious extension candidates, but he also echoed Destin's dubiousness about the Pirates' ability to get a deal done with either of them.

"I haven’t heard much on that front," Hiles wrote. "Cruz perhaps makes the most sense, but I think that would be a long shot. Skenes is obviously the top guy they should try to extend, but I’m not sure if it’s possible at this point."

The Pirates did extend Hayes when he was still in his pre-arb years, so a move to extend Skenes wouldn't be without precedent. With all due respect to Hayes, though, he's not Skenes, and a once-in-a generation player is going to deserve once-in-a-generation money. In today's MLB landscape, it's nearly impossible to imagine that that money will come from Pittsburgh.

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