Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes is the 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner. However, despite the spotlight shining on his early career achievements, rumors have suggested he is interested in playing for the New York Yankees in the near future. On Thursday, Skenes shut down those speculations.
The 23-year-old starting pitcher claims that he is unsure where the rumors even came from, according to ESPN. Skenes says that his goal is to win games, but he wants to remain in Pittsburgh and not New York.
“I don't know where that came from,” Skenes told reporters Wednesday night. “The goal is to win, and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.”
The Pirates are one of those underdog teams in MLB, as the club has failed to reach the postseason since 2015. Paul Skenes double-downed on his desire to remain in Pittsburgh by claiming he wants to be part of the franchise when it rights the ship and potentially makes a serious playoff run.
“The way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is not supposed to win,” Skenes said. “There are 29 fan bases that expect us to lose. I want to be a part of the 26 guys that change that.”
Paul Skenes to the Yankees rumors ignited after an anonymous Pirates teammate boldly claimed that Skenes wanted to be traded to New York before the 2029 MLB season. The unnamed player said that he's heard the 2025 Cy Young Award winner say as such “multiple times.”
The rumors surrounding Skenes and the Yankees should quiet down for now after he shut them down on Thursday. In the meantime, the Pirates will focus on building the roster around their superstar starting pitcher with the hopes of being more competitive in the 2026 campaign. Paul Skenes ended the 2025 season with a 1.97 ERA (led MLB) and 0.948 WHIP (led MLB) while recording 216 strikeouts through 187.2 innings pitched.
