Pirates Have MLB's Most Important Extension
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best players in baseball in pitcher Paul Skenes, but even early in his career, fans wonder how long he'll stay with the franchise.
Skenes is still pre-arbitration, who typically have less than three years of service time and will make around the MLB minimum, which is $760,000 for the 2025 season.
When these players get over three years of service time, but no more than six years, they become eligible for salary arbitration, if they don't have a contract for the following season.
This means that Skenes won't be a free agent until the next decade, but the Pirates would do right by signing their star to an extension.
Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote about what it would take for the Pirates to sign Skenes to an extension and why it would serve as beneficial for both sides.
Britton sees the Pirates signing Skenes to an estimated, 10-year, $200 million extension, which is an incredibly team-friendly deal, even if it would serve as the biggest in franchise history.
While this seems low for Skenes, it would cover those pre-arbitration and arbitration years and would allow him to make more money earlier on in his career, especially if he wins multiple Cy Young awards, which would potentially rise up to an additional $220 million of earnings on top of his original extension.
Britton put the Skenes extension in the Tier 1 category for "Get This Deal Done Now" and that while Pirates fans may laugh at ownership awarding Skenes, it would do both sides well and do right by the fanbase.
"...Guaranteeing Skenes would be in black and yellow for a decade-plus would energize a fan base that’s had little to root for in years. And for Skenes, this deal guarantees him more money through his first 10 seasons than Gerrit Cole made. And remember it also gives him the chance to more than double that by the end of it,"
Skenes starred at LSU in 2023, after transferring from Air Force. He had a 13-2 record in 19 starts, 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings pitched, gave up just 23 earned runs and seven earned runs, while making 209 strikeouts to just 20 walks, leading the program to a national title that season.
He would enter the 2023 MLB Draft, where the Pirates took him with the No. 1 overall pick. He also signed with the franchise on a $9.2 million signing bonus, the highest ever given to a player at the time.
Skenes dominated in the minor leagues and soon made it up to the majors on May 11 of the 2024 season.
He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133.0 innings pitched, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks, while making 170 strikeouts and holding opposing hitting to a .198 batting average. He also had a 11.50 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.95.
He was also the first member of the Pirates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did it in 1975, 49 years ago. He is also just the fifth rookie to start an All-Star game, with Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers doing so in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year, made the All-MLB First Team and finished third in the NL CY Young Award voting.
