The Pittsburgh Pirates had a lot of promise last season. Paul Skenes exploded into MLB, becoming one of the best and most popular pitchers. But this year has been quite different, even if Skenes hasn't, and a big trade might be needed to improve the future of a team that has not made the playoffs in a decade.

While it is undoubtedly a strength that the Pirates have Skenes and Mitch Keller anchoring their starting rotation, Pittsburgh's offense is dreadful and likely to stay that way unless something big happens. And that's why it might make sense to trade Keller, despite having signed him to a five-year deal last February.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal wrote that because the Pirates are in “a different place” now compared to last year, a Keller trade is “possible, if not likely.”

“In both the majors and minors, the Pirates are deep in young starting pitching,” Rosenthal wrote. “Yet, any payroll increase they anticipated isn’t happening, in part because their attendance is down as they keep losing. Their offense, meanwhile, remains a major problem, as evidenced by Keller’s 1-10 record despite an ERA+ that is four percent above league average.”

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“Ace right-hander Paul Skenes and franchise icon Andrew McCutchen are the Pirates’ only untouchables, according to officials briefed on the team’s plans,” Rosenthal also wrote. “As free-agent prices for starting pitchers soar, Keller’s contract looks increasingly reasonable. But his $15 million salary this season occupied nearly 20 percent of the Pirates’ Opening Day payroll, and his guarantees will rise to $16.5 million, $18 million and $20 million over the next three years.”

Having spent his entire career with the Pirates, Keller has a 37-60 career record in spite of his ERA being below 4.25 for each of the past four seasons. He has remained healthy for the most part, too, starting no fewer than 23 games since 2020.

Although they finished with the same record as the year prior (76-86), there was considerably more hope surrounding the Pirates in 2024 than in 2025. This season, Pittsburgh is among the worst teams in baseball this year even with Skenes, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, leading the league in ERA (2.12), ERA+ (198), WHIP (0.906), H/9 (5.7), and HR/9 (0.4). Skenes is 4-7 in his MLB-leading 17 starts.

Ahead of today's home series opener vs. the New York Mets, the Pirates are 32-50, which is third-worst in MLB, only ahead of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox.