Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was rewarded with a record $3,436,343 from this season's pre-arbitration pool after winning the National League Cy Young award earlier this month, the Associated Press reports.
Skenes, 23, raised his two-year total to $5,588,400 under the initiative, which is intended to get younger players paid more while still under arbitration. The former LSU standout was the unanimous NL Cy Young Award winner after leading Major League Baseball with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 187 1/3 innings.
Skenes had a base salary of $875,000 in 2025 after earning $564,946 and won't be eligible for salary arbitration until after the 2026 season is set to become a free agent after the 2029 season. Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had previously set the record for pre-arbitration pool earnings with $3,077,595 for the 2024 season.
Major League Baseball previously agreed to the $50 million annual salary pool as part of its labor settlement in March 2022.
Skenes, a former College World Series champion and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, has lived up to lofty expectations, having been selected as an All-Star during each of his first two MLB seasons, as well as winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year award, being selected to the All-MLB First Team as a rookie and leading the majors in ERA in 2025. The Pirates, however, have finished last in the National League Central Division standings during each of Skenes' first two seasons.