The Pirates are shooting down the idea of trading reigning National League Rookie of the Year and pitching phenom Paul Skenes.
In response to reporters, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington delivered a firm reply regarding a potential topic ahead of Pittsburgh’s 8-5 defeat to the Brewers on Thursday.
“No, it’s not part of the conversation at all,” Cherington bluntly told reporters when he was asked about the idea.
With the Pirates amidst a challenging 17-34 record, currently sitting at the bottom of the NL Central standings, rumors about trading Skenes have recently emerged.
Beyond baseball, Skenes is recognized as the boyfriend of gymnastics star and social media personality Olivia “Livvy” Dunne. He has made quite an impact since his MLB debut last season, quickly establishing himself as a standout player for the Pirates.
He started in the All-Star Game for the National League in 2024 and took home Rookie of the Year honors, but he’s not received much help from his teammates this season amid another bad year for Pittsburgh baseball.
Skenes is 3-5 with a 2.44 ERA, but the Pirates have gone 3-7 in his 10 starts this year.
The LSU product threw his first career complete game on Sunday, striking out nine batters over eight innings, though the Pirates still lost 1-0 to the Phillies.
The Pirates’ struggles and the lack of run support for Skenes — they scored a combined 10 runs over his last six starts — have led some prominent MLB media members to raise the idea of trading Skenes.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan brought up the thought during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand also recently posed the idea.
But, for now, Cherington is not even close to entertaining the idea.
