The Yankees’ offer for Paul Skenes: “The Pirates should have said yes”

Last week, Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees tried to acquire Paul Skenes at the last trade deadline. And from what we understand, the Yankees even offered four top prospects to the Pirates in an effort to land Skenes.

As a reminder: at the time, the club's top four prospects were Cam Schlittler, George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones, and Carlos Lagrange. It's unclear whether all four were included in the offer, but Heyman mentioned four top prospects.

And today, during his appearance on Foul Territory, Jim Bowden weighed in on the matter and revisited that offer. He assumed that the Yankees' offer consisted of those four prospects.

And in the former GM's view, the Pirates should have jumped at the opportunity and accepted the offer. Bowden explains that since the Pirates won't be able to sign Skenes, it would have been better for them to go after four top prospects.

He's a bit less sold on Jones, but he's a big fan of the other three prospects.

The Pirates should've traded Paul Skenes to the Yankees if they offered Cam Schlittler, Spencer Jones, Carlos Lagrange, and George Lombard Jr., says @JimBowdenGM. pic.twitter.com/nTb9Ex8dbO

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 31, 2026

Bowden argues that the Pirates, who have fewer financial resources, would have had a great opportunity to bring a lot of talent to town and keep it for the long term. In particular, he sees Schlittler as a true No. 1 starter who could have, to some extent, replaced Skenes.

He isn't saying that Schlittler will become as good as Skenes: he's simply explaining that, in his view, Schlittler will become a solid No. 1 starter. The idea of adding players like Lagrange and Lombard Jr. to the rest of the roster would have been intriguing to build a more well-rounded team from that perspective.

Of course, in reality, we don't know if that offer was actually made to the Pirates. But if it was, Bowden would have jumped at the chance if he'd been in the Pirates' GM's shoes.

It's worth noting, however, that this same Bowden has been sending all the sport's star players to New York and Los Angeles for the past few years. So this isn't particularly surprising.

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