Pirates' Paul Skenes Has Clear Feelings About Potential Salary Cap

Right now, it's hard to say what will happen in Major League Baseball with the expected lockout. Plenty still needs to be figured out, though teams across the league will ultimately make those decisions by bargaining with some of the sport's top players. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to keep all of this in mind, as reports indicate Paul Skenes will be heavily involved in negotiations with the MLBPA. 

There's plenty of reason to believe Skenes will do what's needed to ensure guys get paid as they have in the past, since that would benefit him. Skenes is undoubtedly one of the best players in Major League Baseball, and when his free agency comes, there's a strong argument that he'll be the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. 

However, many are forgetting there are other factors at play in this potential lockout, including players who aren't going to be paid like some of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball history. 

Whether it's arbitration hearings, contract extensions, or anything in between, there's a lot to answer over the next couple of months, and it doesn't seem like baseball has a clear answer. 

For Pittsburgh specifically, the Pirates have a lot to figure out, as they're a team that typically doesn't want to pay guys, and some of this could benefit them.

“When Skenes was asked what the biggest point of negotiations would be, he said he believes it is more than one, but he understands it all centers around a salary cap.

“He presented it from a Pirates perspective: The Pirates are a young team, where most players have not yet reached arbitration. Those players’ primary focus will be raising the minimum salary. The players who have hit arbitration will want those figures to increase. The few who have long-term contracts will want to ensure those contracts remain guaranteed,” Colin Beazley wrote.

As Skenes touched on here, the Pirates' young team is a bit polarizing when it comes to the expected lockout. 

The Pirates as an organization would likely benefit from not paying some of these guys as much as they're worth, if that's what the salary cap ends up doing, if baseball goes that way, but Pittsburgh might be able to field a better team because of it and even keep a guy like Skenes around eventually. 

I'm curious to see how all of that goes, like everybody else, but sneakily, the Pirates are undoubtedly one of the more interesting teams in the league to follow because of this.