Skenes/Nutting

[JollyRoger8]

Last night while at the Pirate/Angel game I was having quite a few discussions with my local SOCAL friends on the issues surrounding the Pirates and all of the PR snafus. Like me, they remember the great Pirate teams of the 70’s and they do feel sympathy for what die hard Pirate fans have gone through in the past 1/2 century.
We agreed that it would be very easy for Nutting to fix the issue at hand with one simple act of good faith. If he gave Skenes a fair contract extension through 2030 (which is only buying out 1 year of free agency), Skenes would only be 28 and could still sign a huge contract with a major market if he so desired. This would reset the Skenes window so that the Pirates would have him for a full 5 years after this season. Based on the Jackson Merrill contract Nutting should offer a 5 year $150M contract. At $30M a year the team payroll would only increase to $120M a year. He could also defer some amount if it was agreeable. Locking up Skenes would go a long way towards mending a fractured relationship between the Pirates and their fans. There is however an uncertain situation of a possible lockout/strike that would negate the achievement of the extension. Some food for thought

[Bobster]

I don't see that happening for 3 reasons:

1. Nutting doesn't care how the fans feel about a team he has no interest in improving. He's always operated this way and it's never bothered him.

2. Skenes is unlikely to delay for a year his huge FA deal and moving to a competitive team.

3. Paying a lot of money to keep Skenes for 1 more year is not money well spent if the rest of the team is not better, and Nutting isn't going to pay for other good players if he's already paid Skenes a lot of money.

[fjk090852-7]

As a very longtime Pirate fan, I agree that Nutting should do something to return the faith to the fan base. Additional Skenes bobble heads, and brick memorial’s are great, but do something positive for the ball team. By positive I don’t mean canning Shelton or Ben. Do something to show the fans and the players that the Pirates are no longer the door mates of the NL Central. Locking Skenes up for a few years would be very positive, and possibly some free agents would want to come and play for Pittsburgh.

[Babe Adams]

I think buying out one year would just be an acknowledgement that he's trading that year as insurance against injury, rather than some commitment to the team. I'd be content if they just agreed on a price through his arb years, just to eliminate his salary as an annual issue.

[Doc]

Last night while at the Pirate/Angel game I was having quite a few discussions with my local SOCAL friends on the issues surrounding the Pirates and all of the PR snafus. Like me, they remember the great Pirate teams of the 70’s and they do feel sympathy for what die hard Pirate fans have gone through in the past 1/2 century.
We agreed that it would be very easy for Nutting to fix the issue at hand with one simple act of good faith. If he gave Skenes a fair contract extension through 2030 (which is only buying out 1 year of free agency), Skenes would only be 28 and could still sign a huge contract with a major market if he so desired. This would reset the Skenes window so that the Pirates would have him for a full 5 years after this season. Based on the Jackson Merrill contract Nutting should offer a 5 year $150M contract. At $30M a year the team payroll would only increase to $120M a year. He could also defer some amount if it was agreeable. Locking up Skenes would go a long way towards mending a fractured relationship between the Pirates and their fans. There is however an uncertain situation of a possible lockout/strike that would negate the achievement of the extension. Some food for thought

Interesting thought, but Nutting simply isn’t a serious owner because winning isn’t his primary objective. It’s why the Pirates are never legitimate participants in the free agent market when each offseason there are several positions that need filled by proven major leaguers, yet none are signed.

Paul Skenes would be crazy to sign any extension with this owner because he’ll never get the support he needs from him to fill out a roster to help him win. I wouldn’t be surprised if his agent hasn’t already talked to him about moving on as soon as is possible.