“It would be no surprise to see Skenes — the best pitching prospect in a generation — parlay his productivity, age, and marketability into becoming baseball’s first half-billion-dollar pitcher.” Back in May, MLB insider Jeff Passan predicted Skenes’ skyrocketing worth. But the big question is whether Pirates owner Bob Nutting would actually pay that much to keep him! If not, would he at least invest in an offense to support Skenes!

According to Cody Duncan, “All it would take is an extra $25 million to build this offense while Skenes is here. Mind-boggling that he won’t do it.” The result? The Pirates are finishing this season at the bottom of the NL Central, and unsurprisingly, the blame falls on Nutting.

Now, while this season’s performance wasn’t the hot topic, everyone was buzzing about Skenes’ future with the team. And Passan offered a stark reality check for the Pirates’ front office. “That’s all Pirates fans want. They want a reason to go to the ballpark,” said Passan, per Pat McAfee on X. “They want to feel like ownership cares as much as they do, and right now, that’s just not the case. But in this offseason, you sure can make the case that it is. It’s right there for the taking for the Pirates, and the eternal question for that organization is, will they?”

One of the few bright spots for the Pirates in recent years has been Skenes. At just 23, he’s already putting up ace-level numbers with a 1.97 ERA and 216 SOs over 187 innings.

Now, the issue in Pittsburgh isn’t market size, it’s ambition. While the Dodgers are spending north of $300 million on payroll, and even mid-market teams like the Brewers are shelling out to stay competitive, the Pirates?

They came into 2025 at just $85 million, one of the lowest payrolls in the league.

So, as per Passan, the Pirates need to act swiftly around Skenes to offer something for fans to visit PNC Park. And this reality check comes amid Sportrac reporting $4.3 million as pre-Arbitration salary for Skenes in 2026. It is projected that Skenes’ salary would hit $39 million by 2029 once he is eligible for free agency.

Paul Skenes is setting new pitching benchmarks

Earlier this month, Paul Skenes was asked about contract extension talks with the Pirates. His answer? A flat “No.” He explained that he doesn’t want to deal with those conversations during the season, and that the team has respected that. In his words: “Yeah, no discussions on that.”

Even if there’s outside noise about his future, Skenes doesn’t seem to be hearing it. After wrapping up this year with a 1.97 ERA, he even joked that he got “worse” compared to his rookie season, when he posted a 1.96 ERA.

“I’m actually worse than I was last year. I’m just kidding. It’s cool. I don’t come into the year with any numerical goals or anything like that, any stat goals, but it’s a product of doing what you’re supposed to do.”

Well, call it a joke or not, what he’s doing is historic. Amid the Pirates’ poor show, he’s the first qualified pitcher aged 23 or younger to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA since Dwight Gooden’s Cy Young season in 1985!

Now, that mindset tells you where his focus is. It’s not on contracts, not on ownership, but on getting even better. And if he keeps dominating like this, it’s only going to get harder for the Pirates to hang onto him. That means fans might need to prepare for the possibility that Paul Skenes could follow the same path as Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen, leaving Pittsburgh behind, while the franchise stays stuck in place.