Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs In the 2023 draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates scored a major coup with the No. 1 overall pick, selecting LSU right-handed phenomenon Paul Skenes, the most highly anticipated mound prospect since Stephen Strasburg. The Washington Nationals picked Strasburg out of San Diego State in 2009, also with the overall No. 1 selection.Skenes did not disappoint, making his MLB debut on May 11, just 18 days before his 22nd birthday. Skenes went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors, start the All-Star Game for the NL, finish third in Cy Young Award voting and post a stunning ERA of 1.96 in 133 innings (29 innings short of qualification for the ERA title) while striking out 170 and walking just 32.Pretty good for a rookie. But is now the time for the Pirates to trade Skenes away?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 28: Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on during the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 28, 2024…
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 28: Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on during the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 28, 2024 in New York City.
More
Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
That is what “Foul Territory” podcast co-host and former MLB catcher Erik Kratz — who played 332 games for nine different teams in a 11-year career — urged earlier this week.Kratz said on Wednesday’s podcast that Skenes had a “better chance” of getting traded than signing an expensive contract extension with the low-budget Pirates — whose 2025 total payroll currently stands at a mere $85 million, according to Fangraphs. But if Skenes is traded, Kratz said the deal should be a blockbuster.”Blow the doors off of the trade market. Set the bar so high, you know, a franchise-future type of trade for Paul Skenes,” Kratz urged.Which teams would be in on a trade for Skenes? Fansided Call to the Pen writer Brandon Glick suggested one perhaps not-too-surprising possibility: the New York Yankees.Glick proposed a one-for-one deal that would sent Yankees ace, six-time All-Star and 2023 American League Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole to Pittsburgh in a swap for Skenes. Cole himself was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2011, selected out of UCLA by none other than the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom his pitched the first five seasons of his career.But that trade would made little sense for the Pirates, who would inherit Cole’s $36 million per year salary — 42 percent of Pittsburgh’s current payroll — for at least one more year, and as many as four if Cole declines his opt-out after 2025.The Boston Red Sox may make a better trading partner. With baseball’s No. 1 farm system according to Baseball America, and three prospects in the MLB.com top 12, the Red Sox could quickly stock the 16th-ranked Pirates farm.The question would be, are the Red Sox willing to part with their hoped-for future stars in exchange for a pitcher who could likely be the best they have seen since Pedro Martinez came over in trade from the Montreal Expos in 1998?More MLB: Braves Would Add $108 Million Ace To Replace Max Fried In Trade Prediction
