That thinking drove ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan to explain a similar line of thinking, as he pointed out that Skenes is virtually guaranteed to leave the Pirates when he becomes eligible for free agency, given the state of the franchise. By trading him now, Passan argued, the team could recoup a lot of his future value before that happens.

The Pirates have fallen 17 games back of .500 and there are a lot of crazy ideas floating around regarding what to do with some players. One of the wildest thou

But regardless if Ryan is traded, the Pirates will also inquire about higher ranking prospects as well as major leaguers. This would include Hyeseong Kim and recently promoted No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing. No. 2 and 3 prospects Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope are also worth watching though their debuts are not imminent.