The rest of the league is already reshaping rosters for 2025, but in Pittsburgh, it’s business as usual — silence. And really, no one is surprised. Under owner Bob Nutting, restraint has become a defining feature of the Pirates, much to the frustration of a fan base watching a generational talent like Paul Skenes carry the team with minimal help.

Now, with reports circulating that Skenes may be open to a trade, whatever patience the city had left seems to be evaporating. The latest evidence came during Saturday’s College GameDay broadcast in Pittsburgh, when fans delivered a message that has become as common at PNC Park as the seventh-inning stretch.

“Sell the team chants rained down from Pittsburgh fans after Pat McAfee mentioned that Paul Skenes won the Cy Young,” Jomboy Media reported.

It was almost poetic timing — the chant erupted just as McAfee announced Skenes had captured the 2025 Cy Young Award. The fan frustration that had been simmering all year was now spilling into national broadcasts.

“Sell the team” chants rained down from Pittsburgh fans after Pat McAfee mentioned that Paul Skenes won the Cy Young pic.twitter.com/163OGNEriN— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) November 15, 2025

Back in April, Skenes himself addressed the chants, urging fans to remember that players bore responsibility, too. But after a 71–91 finish — their seventh straight losing season — those words ring differently. Wasting a Cy Young-level arm while remaining stuck at the bottom of the standings feels like a disservice to Skenes and an insult to fans who’ve waited decades for a true ace.

Skenes’ breakout only heightens the anger. He became one of the rare pitchers in MLB history to win the Cy Young in his first full season, showcasing strikeout dominance, velocity, and stamina reminiscent of Dwight Gooden’s legendary rookie campaign. Teams simply do not squander talent like this. Contenders build around it — aggressively. And that’s why the pressure on Pittsburgh’s front office has reached a breaking point.

But every path leads back to ownership. Nutting’s unwillingness to spend has long been among the biggest frustrations in baseball. The Pirates entered 2025 with an $84 million payroll — 27th in MLB — and Spotrac projects that number could sink even lower in 2026.

This isn’t new. Pittsburgh has hovered near the bottom of league payrolls for most of Nutting’s tenure. From 2016 to 2024, they signed exactly one free agent to a contract exceeding $15 million. And instead of surrounding their best players with help, they moved on from Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, and Joe Musgrove before those players ever got expensive.

So when fans ask, “Why should we believe this time will be different?” it’s hard to blame them.

Andrew McCutchen didn’t hide from the frustration earlier this season. After another round of “sell the team” chants shook PNC Park, he acknowledged why fans felt the way they did — and admitted how difficult that energy can be for the players on the field. But the bigger issue, he suggested, is the silence from the front office. When the team refuses to acknowledge the unrest, fans only get louder.