PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates are reeling, and just about everything is on the table for a last-place team that has already fired its manager and packed a half-decade's worth of public-relations missteps into two months.
Well, except for one thing: trading ace Paul Skenes.
Asked on Thursday if flipping the reigning National League Rookie of the Year is a consideration for a club woefully lacking in impactful position-player prospects, general manager Ben Cherington gave an atypically brief response.
“No, it's not part of the conversation at all,” Cherington said flatly.