Pittsburgh Pirates Sign No. 1 Overall Pick Paul Skenes to Record-Breaking Contract

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed former LSU pitcher and No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes to a contract, the team announced Tuesday. The Pirates held a press conference to introduce Skenes Tuesday afternoon.

According to a report from MLB Pipeline senior writer Jim Callis, Skenes earned a $9.2 million signing bonus – a new MLB Draft record. However, that was actually below Skenes' slot value, which was just over $9.7 million.

Paul Skenes is a PIRATE !! pic.twitter.com/Qo9oUidcUp
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) July 18, 2023

The previous record was held by Spencer Torkelson, who signed for $8.4 million with the Detroit Tigers after the 2020 MLB Draft. The record may be broken again in the next few days, with No. 2 overall pick Dylan Crews – an outfielder who was teammates with Skenes at LSU – reportedly asking the Washington Nationals for $9.721 million.

Skenes is the highest-paid draft prospect in baseball history for the time being, though, capitalizing on his monster season with the Tigers this spring.

The right-handed pitcher started his collegiate career at Air Force, where he went 10-4 with a 2.72 ERA, 1.148 WHIP, 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.23 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Skenes decided to transfer to LSU last offseason, and he immediately took his game to the next level.

Skenes finished his one and only season in Baton Rouge with a 12-2 record, 1.69 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 10.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The junior was named National Player of the Year by D1 Baseball and Collegiate Baseball, and he was a consensus First Team All-American.

LSU won the 2023 Men's College World Series over Florida in June. Skenes made two starts in Omaha, going 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA, 0.57 WHIP and 21 strikeouts.

Skenes was the No. 1 ranked prospect heading into the draft, and Callis labeled him as the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg in 2009. Skenes is the first pitcher to go No. 1 overall since Casey Mize went to the Tigers in 2018.

The Pirates have now signed seven of their top 10 picks from the 2023 MLB Draft. All of them have signed for at or below slot value, including Skenes and second round pick Mitch Jebb – a shortstop out of North Carolina.

Pittsburgh entered the 2023 season with the No. 8 farm system in baseball, according to MLB.com, but that is likely to go up with Skenes entering the fold.

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