NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler spent the 2026 season becoming the one arm the Yankees could not afford to lose.
The right-hander threw 193 2/3 innings with a 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts in his first full major league season. He started Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 29 as the presumptive American League Cy Young Award winner.
A year earlier, his name surfaced in a far more expensive conversation.
The New York Yankees tried to pry Paul Skenes from Pittsburgh at the 2025 trade deadline, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in March. A package might have included Schlittler, right-hander Carlos Lagrange, infielder George Lombard Jr. and outfielder Spencer Jones. The Pirates shut the door before an offer was made.
That deal never happened. The Yankees kept their prospects, and the rotation it would have cost became the strength of the roster.
Behind Schlittler, Max Fried, in the second year of an eight-year deal, posted a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts around two stints on the injured list for an elbow bone bruise. Gerrit Cole returned from Tommy John surgery in May and finished with a 3.61 ERA in 22 starts. Carlos Rodón had a 1.89 ERA in seven starts after coming back from elbow inflammation in August.
The Yankees finished second in the AL East and brushed aside Boston in the Wild Card Series. They are headed into a winter defined by one question: what does it take to win in October? Captain Aaron Judge has already said the front office should go all-in.
For the Yankees, a familiar target in Pittsburgh may soon supply part of the answer.
Skenes is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this winter. His pay is about to climb quickly, and the gap between what he will cost and what the Pirates typically spend is narrowing. Observers in Pittsburgh expect his salary to move beyond the club’s comfort zone after the 2027 season. Some expect him to be pitching elsewhere by 2028.
For a team that already tried once, that changes the timeline.
Skenes on a grinding season
Skenes went 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA in 32 starts. He struck out 200 batters and made his third straight All-Star team, but his average fastball dipped to 96.8 mph. He pointed to his World Baseball Classic workload as a factor.
After his final start, a 2-1 win over St. Louis at PNC Park on Sept. 24, he weighed the season against his first two years.
“I think it was a good year. I don’t think it was to the caliber of the last two years,” Skenes said.
He also looked ahead.
“I think my best baseball is ahead of me and I think our best baseball is ahead of us,” Skenes said.
The Yankees link is not new to him. After a November 2025 report claimed he wanted to play in New York, Skenes denied it on The Dan Patrick Show.
“It is what it is. There’s stuff that’s gonna come out, good and bad. Obviously, it’s not true,” Skenes said.
The arbitration clock in Pittsburgh
Skenes made about $1.1 million in 2026. MLB Trade Rumors projects a $7.2 million salary for 2027.
That figure would sit just below the $7.25 million Dallas Keuchel received in 2016, his first arbitration year after winning the AL Cy Young Award. No current pitcher with three years of service has won both a Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young.
The raises compound from there. Skenes has two more arbitration years after 2027 and is not eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season. His Rookie of the Year award earned him a full year of service time, moving that date up a season.
The Pirates have 10 arbitration-eligible players projected to cost just under $30 million, roughly a quarter of their 2026 payroll.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said last November that Skenes would be a Pirate in 2026. Heyman has since reported that Pittsburgh has little hope of signing him long term under the current rules.
Why 2028 fits the Yankees’ calendar
The timing lines up with the Yankees’ own contracts. Cole’s nine-year deal and Rodón’s six-year deal both run through 2028. A trade before the 2028 season would give the Yankees two controllable years of Skenes as those deals expire.
Using his published season totals, Skenes owns a 2.62 ERA over 87 career starts and 495 innings, with 586 strikeouts. His 3.30 expected ERA in 2026 suggests some of the jump was bad luck.
The Yankees‘ prospect capital has shifted since 2025. Lombard is MLB Pipeline’s No. 14 overall prospect and debuted in August. Lagrange ranks fourth in the system with a fastball graded 70 on the 20-80 scale. Schlittler has since become the staff ace.
Where things stand
The collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and owners are expected to impose a lockout.
The Pirates have shown no willingness to move him. When Heyman reported the deadline approach in March, he also addressed what the Yankees might do next.
The Yankees would “circle back if they ever detect even a glimmer of an opening,” Heyman wrote.
No trade talks have been reported. Skenes remains under Pirates control through 2029.
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