Was Paul Skenes winning ROY a bad thing for Pirates?

May 29, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Skenes had an excellent rookie season for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was a very deserving NL Rookie of the Year award winner. But the honor he received may not have been the best thing for the Pirates.

The Pirates waited until May 11 before calling up Skenes to the big club. They instead had the 2023 No. 1 draft pick make 7 starts in Triple-A to begin the season.

MLB owners and players in 2022 agreed to new regulations to try curbing the issue of service-time manipulation, and the Pirates lost out in that regard.

Had the Pirates put Skenes on their Opening Day roster, they would have earned a bonus draft pick thanks to his first-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Keeping Skenes in the minors for the first month-plus of the season would have prevented the pitcher from earning a full year of MLB service time, which would have allowed the team to retain the contractual rights to the ace for an extra year. However, by winning the Rookie of the Year award, Skenes secured a full year of service time, thanks to the new rules.

Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 2024 and was absolutely dominant. The Pirates got 23 great starts out of him, and maybe they have no regrets over the way they handled their ace. But in the end, keeping him in the minors for over a month to start the season cost them a bonus pick, and they didn’t even get an extra year of team control. The award voting did not exactly work out in their favor.