Paul Skenes Reportedly Wants To Play For Red Sox’s Archrival

The American League East is already home to several of the best pitchers in baseball. The Boston Red Sox have AL Cy Young finalist Garrett Crochet, while the New York Yankees have Gerrit Cole and Max Fried.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, however, the Yankees might be gaining another ace soon.

According to Randy Miller of NJ.com, National League Cy Young finalist Paul Skenes has been telling his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates that he wants to play for New York someday.

“According to a Pirates teammate who recently spoke with NJ Advance Media, Skenes has ‘no confidence the Pirates ever are going to win’ with him in Pittsburgh, and he’s ‘hoping for a trade’ well before he can become a free agent after the 2029 season,” Miller writes.

This is obviously concerning news for Boston, as a trio of Cole, Fried and Skenes would be nearly unstoppable.

“Trust me, he wants to play for the Yankees,” Skenes’ teammate told NJ Advance Media. “I’ve heard him say it multiple times.”

Skenes is apparently already fed up with the Pirates after just two seasons there and wants out of Pittsburgh. The Pirates have been toiling in mediocrity for the last three decades, and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon given their poor leadership and perennially low payroll.

Skenes is hypercompetitive and wants to win as soon as possible, so it’s not surprising that he wants to be in pinstripes. It’s unclear if or when that might happen, but the Red Sox need to start preparing themselves for the possibility of sharing a division with him and perhaps try to acquire him before New York does.

In the meantime, if Pittsburgh does decide to trade Skenes before he reaches free agency, Boston can only hope it doesn’t send him to the AL East.