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The Pittsburgh Pirates are offering a staggering trade offer to the recipient of a rare Paul Skenes rookie card. Pittsburgh's baseball franchise wants the card and is offering major incentives for it, per Major League Baseball's X account.
The trade offer includes two Pirates season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years. It also includes a personalized meet and greet with Skenes, as well as several other perks. The offer in terms of monetary value is most likely worth thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Will the lucky collector accept the Pirates trade proposal for this card?
– Two Pirates season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years.
– A softball game for thirty at PNC Park + coaching from Pirates alumni.
– Private Tour of Pirates City and LECOM Park in Bradenton,… https://t.co/rEf4RZ4HRz— MLB (@MLB) January 21, 2025
The baseball card in question is truly one of a kind. It is a Topps rookie card of Skenes, showing the Pirates hurler getting ready to throw a baseball. He's wearing a white Pirates uniform. The card is a Rookie Debut patch autograph card, and only one of them was ever made.
Topps, a famous baseball card company, says the card was pulled by an 11-year-old collector in Los Angeles. The elusive card of the Pirates Rookie of the Year pitcher has been sought for months by the team. Skenes' girlfriend Olivia Dunne is also offering the card holder a seat next to her at a game in the upcoming Pirates season.
Paul Skenes is now the face of the Pittsburgh Pirates
It's truly astonishing what the Pirates are offering for the card, but it does make sense to some extent. Skenes has automatically become the face of the Pirates franchise. He's brought excitement to an organization marred by failure in the last 30 or so years.
While Skenes didn't even start the 2024 season on the team roster, he finished the year as the National League Rookie of the Year. Skenes also started the All-Star game for the National League. He finished his first MLB season with an 11-3 record, and a 1.96 ERA.
Skenes made news in recent days as it was announced the Pirates pitcher hasn't signed a contract extension with the team. Pirates fans are hoping that the franchise can lock down the hurler's services for years to come, but that isn't yet the case. The Pirates also didn't hit home runs this offseason in terms of signing lucrative free agents.
Skenes said he believes the team will be better in 2025. Pittsburgh finished 2024 with a 76-86 record, despite staying in the NL playoff race until mid-August.
“The group that we have from last year is going to be better I think than we were last year,” Skenes said, per ESPN. “We're going to have more experience. I don't think you can overstate the impact that coaches can have on it, too, so we made some good additions there. It's not a complicated thing. It's hard to do, but it's not complicated.”
Spring training begins in the coming weeks, so Pirates fans will soon have a chance to see the team up close. Time will tell if the lucky card collector will take up the Bucs on their offer.
