Ben Cherrington denied that LSU Tigers baseball legend Paul Skenes was on the trade block, but the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ace is still playing too well to remain on a franchise with no upward mobility for long.
Conveniently for Cherrington, his former employer, the Boston Red Sox, has the No. 1 position player, outfielder Roman Anthony, to offer in a potential blockbuster.
Naturally, a Skenes-Sox union is on the minds of a fanbase that’s seen one postseason series appearance in the last six years since their 2018 World Series championship run.
MassLive’s Nick O’Malley urged the Red Sox to pursue the 23-year-old despite the exorbitant trade price Pittsburgh will likely ask for.
“Pittsburgh has the second-worst record in the National League and not much optimism to be a contender during the next few years. A Skenes trade could alter the course of the franchise moving forward,” O’Malley wrote.
“But it wouldn’t come cheap. If you’re the Red Sox, you have to consider it – even if it means giving up the No. 1 prospect in baseball (Anthony).”
Skenes is not long for Pittsburgh. In baseball, there’s a handful of teams ready, willing, and able to hand out a record-breaking contract. The Pirates have the fourth-lowest payroll this season and are doling out contracts worth less than what two years might be worth on Skenes’ next deal.
Boston is in that high-roller club, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Red Sox just tend to get buyer’s remorse and trade their mistakes to the Dodgers.
Ask Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett about that.
Then ask Mookie Betts and David Price.
We’ll see if history repeats itself with Skenes, who will have practically half the league bidding on his services until he hangs up his cleats.