Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
As anyone who has followed Major League Baseball closely knows, the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t spend any real money on players. So, most fans believe it is just a matter of time before the Bucs trade their young star, Paul Skenes, before he commands an astronomical amount of money. (And he will, if he stays healthy.)
Additionally, as any true baseball fan knows, under the current MLB system, only a handful of teams will be able to afford Paul Skenes. One of them, obviously, is the New York Yankees.
On Wednesday, Skenes could barely enjoy winning his first Cy Young Award before talk started up about which team he would play for next.
“Trust me, he wants to play for the Yankees,” an anonymous Pirates player allegedly told Randy Miller of NJ.com. Supposedly, Paul Skenes even expressed “multiple times” that he is “hoping for a trade” to the New York Yankees.
While talking to the media on a conference call about his Cy Young Award, Paul Skenes was asked about his supposed desire to play for the Yankees. Notably, he grew up approximately 20 miles from the Los Angeles Angels’ stadium in California, and his favorite player was Mike Trout. So, cross your fingers, Angels fans.
Paul Skenes shoots down rumors he wants to be traded to the Yankees
“I got shown the tweet and got some texts about it. Didn’t think much about it,” The Athletic reports Skenes said on the call. “I’m on the Pirates. My goal is to win with the Pirates. … The way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, we’re not supposed to win. There are 29 fan bases that expect us to lose. I want to be a part of the 26 guys that change that.”
Of course, Paul Skenes is only 23-years-old right now and he won’t become a free agent until after the 2029 season. He has plenty of time to change his mind. In the meantime, since he currently has little say in where he plays, he is saying all the right things.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Skenes added. “I don’t know the reporter. I don’t know the player that supposedly said that. But the goal is to win, and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.”
Skenes went on to point out that 2015 was the last time the Pirates made the playoffs. Which makes them the team with the second-longest playoff drought in Major League Baseball. Only his hometown Angels, who last qualified in 2014, have experienced a longer drought.
“Someone can check my math on how many years it’s been since we won a World Series: 46 years? Sorry, I went to LSU,” he said. “Yeah, 46 years without a World Series championship. This is why I’m going to show up to the ballpark, and I’m going to work to get everybody pushing in the same direction. I know there are other guys who are going to do the same. That’s all the truth.”