Pirates Sign No. 1 Pick Paul Skenes to Record-Setting Contract

The Pittsburgh Pirates gave the right-hander the richest signing bonus in MLB draft history.

The Pirates owned the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, using their selection to take superstar LSU pitcher Paul Skenes.

On Tuesday, Pittsburgh and their top draft pick reportedly agreed to terms on a contract. The deal, according to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline, includes the richest bonus ever given to an MLB draft pick. 

Skenes and the Pirates reportedly agreed to a deal with a signing bonus worth $9.2 million, the largest MLB draft bonus ever doled out to a player.

Skenes’s $9.2 million deal shatters the previous record held by Tigers former No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson, who received a bonus of $8.416 million in 2020. 

No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes signs w/@Pirates for $9.2 million (pick value = $9,721,000). Breaks @MLBDraft record of $8,416,300 (Torkelson, 2020). @LSUbaseball RHP, ranks w/Strasburg as best Draft pitching prospect ever. Fastball up to 102 mph, wipeout upper-80s slider. pic.twitter.com/hVECfTjFLx

— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 18, 2023

Skenes, a hard-throwing right-hander, is considered the best pitching prospect at the draft since Stephen Strasburg, who was drafted No. 1 by the Nationals in 2009.

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Behind Skenes and Torkelson on the all-time draft signing bonus list are the Diamondbacks’ Druw Jones ($8.189M, 2022), young Orioles talents Jackson Holliday ($8.19M, 2022) and Adley Rutschmann ($8.1M, 2020) and former Pittsburgh No. 1 pick Gerrit Cole ($8M, 2011). 

Fellow 2023 draft pick Wyatt Langford, the No. 4 selection, signed an $8 million bonus with the Rangers. 

The No. 2 pick from the 2023 MLB draft, outfielder Dylan Crews, Skenes’s former teammate at LSU, has yet to put pen to paper on his first contract with the Nationals, but reports indicate he could be looking to break Skenes’s record and seek a deal with a bonus worth upward of $10 million.