With the Pittsburgh Pirates off to a disappointing start in 2025 and manager Derek Shelton getting fired, a lot of rumors have swirled regarding a potential Paul Skenes trade.
Now, fans might want to pump the brakes, especially after one Pirates source said “No chance, no way, no how."
Still, it's going to be a topic of conversation. Plus, a potential Skenes trade could land a massive amount. After all, the Washington Nationals traded Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres at the 2023 MLB trade deadline.
In turn, the Nationals received Robert Hassell III, MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Jarlin Susana and James Wood. Now, four of those players are in the big league level with the Nationals.
Well, a possible Skenes trade could land 1.5 times that amount, as one MLB executive told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
"If they looked to trade him now, I think something like 1.5 times the Soto deal would be a starting point,” the exec said.
That same exec mentioned the Boston Red Sox as one team as they could send Marcelo Mayer and others in a Skenes deal.
Could you imagine what that type of deal would look like? If Soto landed four of the Padres' top prospects, Skenes could land even more than that and, possibly, some MLB level players in the process.
While the Pirates seem to be hesitant to trade Skenes - and rightfully so - a potential offer like that has to be worth considering for a franchise desperately in need of winning games and bringing excitement back.
Does a team such as Boston make a proposal like that? Or does another team call the Pirates and try and blow the top off with a hard-to-resist offer?
Well, if the Pirates get anywhere close to 1.5 times the value of the Soto trade, it shouldn't be a question.
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