Why at least 1 Pirates fan wishes Paul Skenes would’ve been traded to Yankees

The world of sports is full of what-ifs. In the NFL, what if Bill Belichick stays with the New York Jets? In the NBA, what if Greg Oden does not get injured? In MLB, there is the what-if of Alex Rodriguez getting traded to the Boston Red Sox instead of the New York Yankees.

Now, there is another what-if being talked about by at least one fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. What if Paul Skenes had been traded to the Yankees last year?

“What if the Pirates hadn’t hung up the phone on the Yankees’ proposed Paul Skenes offer? Cam Schlittler would be crushing it in Pittsburgh. Spencer Jones would be duking it out with Oneil Cruz for both the strikeout record and the first to 30 home runs. And George Lombard Jr. would likely be taking reps at 3B in AAA to soon join the MLB club and have the youngest and highest upside right side of the infield, arguably, in the NL. It’s hard not to dream on that as a Pirates fan,” the question from a fan to Chad Jennings of The Athletic asks.

This comes from the rumor that the Yankees offered four top prospects last July for Skenes. Cam Schlittler, Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., and Carlos Lagrange were the top-ranked prospects at that time and the most likely to be traded. The prospects were never identified, but those are the most likely names. Even more, Schlittler has put up numbers that only Skenes has early in his career. That is something that Jennings also noted.

“Heading into Tuesday night’s start, Schlittler’s strikeout rate, walk rate and WHIP were almost identical to Skenes’. Schlittler had the better ERA, but Skenes had a better expected ERA,” Jennings wrote.

While Schlittler is off to a great start, it is hard to imagine trading him for Skenes one-for-one, but given the fact that the Pirates would have gotten more, Jennings did not balk at the idea.

“One-for-one, I imagine every executive would still prefer Skenes over Schlittler, but in the short term, the hypothetical trade also would have sent some high-upside bats to the Pirates — would Jones have replaced Marcell Ozuna at DH by now? — and given Schlittler’s incredible start to the season, the Pirates might not have skipped a beat in the rotation. Can’t blame Pirates fans, especially those who assume Skenes is going to leave eventually, for actually finding a Skenes trade they might have liked,” the answer continued.

The idea of one of the most dominant pitchers in the Yankees’ Pinstripes is something that brings up memories of the past Yankees swagger. Still, no one knows if the Yanks would have had enough, even with Skenes, to contend against the Dodgers this year. Also, would Skenes have performed well on the big stage in the Bronx? Currently, it is just. what-if, but maybe at some point, it could be a reality.

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