The young collector who scored a unique baseball card featuring National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes has turned down a trade offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Topps announced Friday that the 11-year-old from the Los Angeles area had declined the deal and would instead put up the card – which includes Skenes’ autograph and a patch from a game-worn jersey – for auction.
The Pirates had put together a package that included 30 years of season tickets behind home plate at PNC Park and the chance to play a softball game on the field in exchange for the card.
Skènes’ girlfriend, LSU gymnast and influencer Livvy Dunne, also offered the card’s owner the chance to participate in a match with her in a luxury suite at the stadium during one of Skènes’ departures.
While the collector wrote in a journal entry shared by Topps that the card’s appeal was a “dream come true,” that dream apparently did not include spending the next three decades attending games at PNC Park.
The team posted to X after the decision that he was “disappointed” but offered to have the fan at a game during the 2025 season.
Fanatics Collect, which will handle the card’s auction in March, said it will donate its proceeds from the sale to relief funds in the Los Angeles area.
The card could hold some pretty high value considering the potentially bright future for the 22-year-old Skenes, who finished third in NL Cy Young Award Voting after a stellar rookie season.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft made his major league debut in May and put together one of the most impressive rookie seasons in recent memory. Skenes was selected as the NL’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game after just 11 starts and finished 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 games.
Skenes said over the weekend that he hasn’t thought about the potential of signing a long-term contract to stay in Pittsburgh, instead saying his goal is to help the Pirates through the 2029 season.
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