The young collector who found a rare baseball card with National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes’ autograph has rejected a trade offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Topps announced on Friday that the 11-year-old from Los Angeles chose to pass on the trade and decided to auction the card instead. The card features Skenes’ signature and a patch from his game-worn jersey.
The Pirates had offered 30 years’ worth of season tickets behind home plate at PNC Park, plus the chance to play a softball game on the field in exchange for the card.
Skenes’ girlfriend, LSU gymnast and influencer Livvy Dunne, also made an offer to the card’s owner. She invited them to watch a game with her in a luxury suite during one of Skenes’ starts.
The collector wrote in a journal entry shared by Topps that finding the card was a “dream come true,” but this dream didn’t include spending 30 years attending games at PNC Park.
The team shared on X after the decision that they were “bummed” but offered the fan the chance to attend a game in the 2025 season.
Fanatics Collect, which will auction the card in March, announced that the money raised will go toward fire relief efforts in the Los Angeles area.
The card could be very valuable because of the bright future ahead for Skenes, who finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting after a standout rookie season.
Skenes, the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, made his major league debut in May and had one of the best rookie seasons in recent memory. He was chosen as the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game after just 11 starts, finishing the season with an 11-3 record and a 1.96 ERA in 23 games.
Skenes said over the weekend that he hasn’t thought about signing a long-term contract with the Pirates yet. Instead, he is focusing on helping the team get closer to competing in 2025. He is eligible for free agency after the 2029 season.
