How Paul Skenes Responded To Pirates’ Trade Deadline Moves

Not that it was ever in doubt, but Paul Skenes remained a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates through the trade deadline.

The Pirates never appeared to seriously entertain moving their ace, but they made some other impact deals. Pittsburgh sent starting third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Cincinnati Reds and closer David Bednar to the New York Yankees.

Following the deadline, Skenes allowed four runs in Saturday’s 8-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles after the game, the 23-year-old reacted to Pittsburgh’s moves in comparison to the team not selling in 2024.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning,” Skenes said. “We’re gonna do our best to go out there and do our best to win every game the remainder of the season. What we did last year, I think they took an approach to set us up for the second half, the last two months of the season last year, but also set us up for this year with some of the acquisitions we made. But it all comes down to winning.”

At 47-64, the Pirates are unlikely to climb back into the playoff picture. Yet Skenes is eager to see how players such as a Liover Peguero, Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows perform down the stretch.

“There are some names that are going to come up at some point that are going to be very good,” Skenes predicted. “It’s just a matter of growing. I think the deadline created an avenue for us to do that.”

Pittsburgh shed some payroll by trading Hayes and Bednar, so Skenes wants the organization to use those savings and upgrade their lineup before the 2026 season. It’s hard to blame the All-Star for craving more run support, as he’s 6-8 despite posting a 2.02 ERA.

“Hopefully it also created some space for us to acquire some bats in the offseason,” Skenes said. “Didn’t see a lot in terms of major league [acquisitions] at the deadline, but hopefully that sets us up next year, very well through the guys that we acquired who are in Triple-A, or like I said, with that space in the offseason to pick up some bats.”

The Pirates didn’t sell as many veterans as some observers anticipated. Skenes is “super happy” that pending free agents Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andrew Heaney remain with the team to help guide younger players during the final two months.

“Obviously time will tell if it’s a good deadline or not, but I think we’re in a position to build as a team, as an organization,” Skenes said. “We just gotta go out there and do it.”

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