Paul Skenes’ Pittsburgh Pirates may not have the brightest long-term outlook, but he insists he’s not trying to jump ship.
Last week, NJ Advance Media’s Randy Miller reported that an anonymous Pirates teammate said Skenes couldn’t wait to join the New York Yankees, and would even prefer a trade there before he’s scheduled to become a free agent in four years. It could hardly have been worse timing for Skenes, who was named the National League’s Cy Young Award winner on the same day.
While the Pirates one day paying Skenes exactly what he’s worth may be unlikely, Skenes wanted it to be known in the immediate aftermath of the report that he had no intention of forcing his way out of Pittsburgh, to the Yankees or elsewhere. On Tuesday, after some time to digest the situation, Skenes doubled down.
During his appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show,” Skenes described his reaction to hearing about Miller’s report, then definitively refuted the words of his anonymous teammate.
“I was frustrated for a couple of hours and then got over it and talked to the media later that night,” Skenes told Patrick. “It is what it is. There’s stuff that’s gonna come out, good and bad. Obviously, it’s not true.”
Skenes then compared his plight with the last-place Pirates now to his college career, when he transferred to eventual national championship team LSU, but felt he left unfinished business behind at Air Force.
“We won the conference championship at Air Force,” Skenes said. “That’s what’s on the horizon for us (the Pirates). We just have to do it, and leaving before that would leave a bad taste in my mouth, because there was work to be done that we didn’t do.”
Pittsburgh hasn’t made a playoff appearance since 2015, but Skenes is as good a building block as any team could ask for when trying to make it back. But until the Pirates spend some real money on free agents to bolster their offense, they’ll be subjected to Skenes trade rumors at every turn.
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