Report: Pirates star Paul Skenes receiving $2.5 million bonus for winning Cy Young

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes won the National League Cy Young award, and that will lead to him landing a big bonus. Per Front Office Sports, Skenes will receive a $2.5 million bonus for winning the Cy Young, nearly three times his salary for the 2025 season.

According to Spotrac, Skenes had a salary of $875,000 in his second of three pre-arbitration seasons. It would make sense for the Pirates to sign the former LSU star to a contract extension before he hits free agency after the 2029 season, but there were no contract talks as the 2025 season was winding down.

“No. That’s not something I want to discuss during the season, and I think they haven’t brought up anything to me out of respect of that, too,” Skenes said in September, per Sports Illustrated. “Yeah, no discussions on that.”

Paul Skenes reacts to winning Cy Young award

Skenes won the Cy Young award by unanimous decision. He earned all 30 first-place votes after recording a 1.97 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 32 starts. He also notched 216 strikeouts, tying for the second-most in the NL behind Jesús Luzardo of the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Winning it is one thing. It being a unanimous decision is another,” Skenes said, per MLB.com. “It’s pretty special. The Cy Young Award is the Cy Young Award. Every baseball fan knows it. I’ve had a month to think about it now, after the season ended, and what would it mean. That’s the answer I’ve come upon, is that it doesn’t change anything about the season that I had, whether I win it or not. Same way I thought about the Rookie of the Year Award last year. It’s a tremendous honor, but we play this game because we love the game. We love to pitch and to win.”

It was not a big surprise to see Skenes win the Cy Young after what he did last year. The 23-year-old won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2024 and was selected to the All-MLB First Team after posting a 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 170 strikeouts, and an 11-3 record in 23 starts.