Pittsburgh Piratesgeneral manager Ben Cherington shot down the notion that the team would consider trading reigning NL Rookie of the Year winnerPaul Skenes. "It's not part of the conversation at all," Cheringtontold reporters. Skenes, the first overall pick in 2023, quickly became one of the most dominant starting pitchers in baseball and finished runner-up in Cy Young voting last season, striking out 170 batters with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts. MLB POWER RANKINGS:Red Sox get pummeled as Devers powers up For years, the Pittsburgh organization has drawn ire from around baseball for refusing to reinvest money on the field, ranking 26th of 30 teams with a$87,645,246 payrollthis season. In recent weeks, there have been calls from fans and pundits for the Pirates to trade their best player – since there's virtually no chance they'll sign him when he's eligible for free agency after the 2029 season. The Pirates are in last place in the NL Central with a 17-34 record, already 13½ games behind the first-placeChicago Cubsand have not reached the postseason since 2015. "We've just got to get better," Cherington said. "Let's play better baseball, and that's going to lead to winning more games. Then, let's wake up and see where that takes us when we get to July." The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Paul Skenes trade rumors: Pirates shoot down idea of dealing ace
