The buzz around Pittsburgh baseball has not just been about the breakout star lighting up the mound; it is also about the unsettling silence in the dugout around Paul Skenes. For all the talk of promise and progress, the frustration is mounting with every dominant outing that ends in disappointment. And that disconnect? It starts at the very top. Bob Nutting continues to polarize the Pirates fanbase. Now, the spotlight is on the team’s management as they flirt with another summer of cost-cutting moves. The twist? It could all be part of a deeper play to keep Paul Skenes, without having to actually build around him yet.

For teams on the bubble, the trade deadline is not about fireworks; it is about timing. That is exactly what appears to be in play with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where multiple news outlets are linking the team to a powerful sell-off of stars worth $15.5 million in total salary. Though stars like Andrew Heaney, David Bednar, Caleb Ferguson, and Dennis Santana are not spotlight stealers; however, together, they form the base of a strategy that looks suspiciously familiar.

Breaking this down: Heaney has been an effective starter at under $6 million this year, boasting a 2.91 ERA in 10 starts. Then, Bednar is a two-time All-Star and looks to have bounced back since his Triple-A demotion. This makes the star’s $5.9 million tag far more palatable to competitors. Ferguson, a vital lefty rental at $3 million, and Santana, who is lighting it up with his 1.77 ERA for just $1.4 million, round out the group. As Mark Feinsand reported, “The bullpen could be the area potential trade partners focus on the most.”

So why would this team part ways with four such affordable arms? Because the Pirates brass could be utilizing this purge not just to clear salary, but to delay the need to establish a winner around Skenes. He has been elite with a 2.44 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. He has a WHIP under 1.00. But, the team is a dismal 3–7 in Skenes’ starts. It is a painful echo of the Mets wasting Jacob deGrom’s Cy Young seasons, only worse. The Pirates cannot manage a .500 record with a generational star on the mound.

This is where Nutting’s approach—if you can call it that—gets dicey. On paper, Skenes is the dream: homegrown and under pre-arbitration control through 2029. To trade the star now would be PR suicide. GM Ben Cherington addressed the rumors and said, “No, it is not part of the conversation at all.” But the truth is, every non-move around Skenes speaks louder than that reassurance. By selling off $15.5 million in vital pieces, the Pirates could just be pressing pause on expectations.

Offensive collapse forces Pirates to consider risky trade gamble

Of course, if the team is truly dedicated to safeguarding Paul Skenes, trimming payroll alone will not cut it. Trading away $15.5 million in quality stars could delay a rebuild, but it does nothing to address the glaring issue that has defined this season: a lineup that cannot hit water if it fell out of a boat. The team now has the MLB record for most consecutive games scoring four runs or fewer and is the only team averaging under three runs per game. That is not just bad; it is historically dreadful.

Such an offensive collapse has turned the heat up on General Manager Cherington, who’s been under scrutiny for his inability to identify and enhance effective bats. His reaction? A tone-deaf vote of confidence in the Pirates’ internal growth, and he said, “I do not think we have to squint too hard to see a better team on the field in 2025.”

As pressure builds, insiders are pushing Cherington toward something completely out of character: a vital move for a real bat. Last week, Pirates insider Kevin Gorman said, “The Pirates need to add some pop to their lineup… and make a bold move.” Current instances like the Padres adding Luis Arraez last May and the Brewers trading for Willy Adames in 2021 highlight that such vital approaches can work; however, those teams were already competitive. The Pirates? They are a mess.

Still, the roster could provide a few decent trade options. While Heaney and Bednar could fetch a mid-tier bat, young stars like Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft could carry upside in return. But, here’s a catch: Cherington has not shown he can make the right call. Most hitters he has added have flopped, and the Pirates fans have not forgotten Neal Huntington’s disastrous Chris Archer trade. That trade gutted the farm for almost nothing. Any mistake in this situation could cost Cherington his job and make a Skenes trade feel inevitable by 2026.

The team needs to act decisively, but with care. If the Pirates hope to keep Skenes and actually contend while he is under control, the team cannot keep fielding a lineup full of ghosts. The concern now is whether Cherington can rise to the moment or whether he will become the latest in a long line of front office failures in Pittsburgh.