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It would appear Paul Skenes has a very bright future ahead of him based on what he achieved during his first season in the MLB, and memorabilia associated with the pitcher seems like it would be a solid investment based on his current trajectory. However, the Pirates have extended a very juicy offer to anyone who ends up in possession of a one-of-a-kind rookie card.
Paul Skenes initially kicked off his college career at Air Force before taking his talents to LSU following a stellar freshman season, and he quickly emerged as one of the top prospects in the country before the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him with the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
The right-hander quickly worked his way through the franchise’s farm system after signing a contract that was accompanied by a record-high $9.2 million signing bonus, and on May 11, 2024, he made his MLB debut against the Cubs and peaked at 101.9 MPH on the radar gun during a four-inning performance where he hit triple-digits 17 times while striking out seven batters.
Skenes finished the 2024 campaign with an 11-3 record and a 1.96 ERA, and it would appear the Pirates made a very good decision by scooping up the 22-year-old who was named to the All-Star Team and earned All-MLB First Team honors (he’s also the odds-on favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year when the award is presented on November 18th).
In September, a bidder set the mark to beat for the most expensive Skenes card sold to date by shelling out over $123,000 for a one-of-one Bowman Draft version, but that number will likely be blown out of the water by the equally unique Topps card featuring the patch he wore on his jersey during his aforementioned debut.
The trading card company recently announced the card in question will be tucked away in a single pack of the 2024 Topps Chrome Updates that were released on November 13th, and the Pirates are doing everything in their power to bring it into their possession with the unreal trade offer they shared in the hopes of luring it away from whoever ends up tracking it down.
To the lucky person who finds this card… We’d love to bring this card home to PNC Park to share with all Buccos fans.
Here’s our offer: https://t.co/qSDgZg3C8p pic.twitter.com/efNGhjidQ4
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) November 15, 2024
As Cllct notes, three decades’ worth of season tickets could be worth between around $240,000 and $2 million depending on the exact location, and while Skenes autographed jerseys are “only” selling for a few hundred dollars as things currently stand, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume they’ll end up appreciating in value at least a little bit in the years to come.
It’s a bit harder to put any real tangible value on the other perks, but they’re certainly hard to ignore.
It does seem like the offer in question would only be attractive to a Pirates fan who’s able to consistently attend games at PNC Park, and the odds of someone who meets that criteria being the person who ends up pulling the card do seem pretty low.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.