Tim Benz: Ben Cherington's response to Paul Skenes-Barry Bonds question should remind Pirates fans how time flies

One of the prevailing sentiments from those in attendance at Barry Bonds’ induction into the Pirates Hall of Fame this weekend was, “Wow! Did he really leave 32 years ago? Has it really been that long?”

Another was, “Wow! Was he really only here for seven years?”

Fast forward to roughly the year 2054, and maybe there will be similar conversations about Paul Skenes. You know, after he goes onto a Hall of Fame-worthy career with one of Major League Baseball’s big market teams following a meteoric start to his career in Pittsburgh. Ah, those misty water-colored memories when Skenes burst on the scene in little ol’ Pittsburgh for a few years before free agency, and he really made it big time!

That was the script for Bonds after the 1992 season when he jumped ship to San Francisco for $43 million dollars after, as fellow inductee (and Bonds’ former Pirates manager) Jim Leyland referenced this past weekend, the Pirates only offered $25 million.

For now, Skenes is under club control through 2030. But thanks to that insane Rookie of the Year rule, the Pirates could lose a year off of that if Skenes finishes in the top 2 of voting in the National League.

I’ll admit that I didn’t necessarily make the link to Skenes in my head watching Bonds get inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame Saturday, but Pirates broadcaster Joe Block brought it up to general manager Ben Cherington on his radio show Sunday.

“We’re obviously really fortunate that Paul is wearing a Pirates uniform. He’s doing exceptionally well.” Cherington replied on 93.7 The Fan.

“In terms of the long term, time will tell. We’ve got a lot of time to figure that out. Our goal is to win games, win more games and win as many games as we possibly can. Be in the postseason. We need guys like Paul Skenes to help us do that. If there’s an opportunity to keep him in Pittsburgh for as long as possible, of course, that’s going to be a priority, but we’ve got a lot of time to figure that out.”

That opportunity can manifest if the Pirates want to buy out Skenes’ first few years of free agency by signing him to a long-term deal before he gets to arbitration.

Earlier this year, Spotrac’s Mike Ginnitti suggested that the 22-year-old LSU product could command an early pre-arbitration extension of six years for $150 million. His colleague, MLB contracts expert Dan Soemann, said on the “The Spotrac Podcast” that the number could be $120-$150 million over four years for Skenes.

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The Braves gave 25-year-old Spencer Strider a seven-year, $92 million deal (including a team option) last year. Another comp is that the Pirates traded Gerrit Cole to Houston before the 2018 season in the wake of his first five big-league seasons. Following the 2019 season, Cole inked a nine-year, $324 million contract with the New York Yankees.

Those are all financial bodies of water that are likely out of the Pirates’ depth, even when it comes to retaining a player of Skenes’ talent. So here are the two messages that leap to mind for me:

1. Enjoy Skenes’ time here while you can. See him in person as often as you can. Watch him on television as often as you can because, as the Bonds and Cole history indicates, you’ll probably have to see Skenes play elsewhere for a lot longer — and attaining a great deal more fame — in another uniform besides Black and Gold somewhere down the line.

2. The Pirates need to be aware of this window even more than the fans do. That means owner Bob Nutting, Cherington, and whoever eventually succeeds Cherington whenever Nutting inevitably decides to throw his management team under the bus to begin yet another artificial rebuilding plan. The owner needs to commit more funds quickly so that a competitive batting order can be rolled out on a nightly basis whenever Skenes and his fellow promising starting pitchers take the mound.

As Bonds outlined after his induction on Saturday, he broke in with the Pirates in 1986 when the club was a 98-loss franchise. By the next season, the Pirates were within a game of .500. They finished second in the National League East with 85 wins in 1988. By 1990, they were division champs and had made the playoffs three years in a row.

The current Pirates may not have that much time for a similar incremental climb built around Skenes. Then again, with the wild card format, they don’t need one. Now, much like the other North American pro sports, just getting in the MLB postseason is good enough, and then you roll the dice from there.

It’s just going to be up to Pirates management to avoid a plateau like the 1990s teams with Bonds endured or those 2013-15 Bucs suffered when they couldn’t get beyond the wild card round.

That’s going to take meaningful, purposeful offseason spending on a roster around Skenes before they even get to Skenes himself. That’s going to mean attempting to win in the offseason occasionally so as to better position the franchise to win in the regular season. That’s going to mean paying out for roster construction in the winter, as opposed to just roster tweaking in late July by adding the likes of Bryan De La Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa when you poke your head up out of the ground and notice you are on the fringes of the wild card race.

“I know it was really hard for him to leave Air Force,” Cherington said of Skenes’ college baseball transfer to LSU. “This is a guy who is deeply in where he is and deeply engaged with the goals, the mission and the values of that place. I certainly hope that we have an opportunity to form that kind of connection with Paul here.”

Sure, those are nice things to say about Skenes. But, I’m not sure part of the “mission” of the Pirates is, you know, grooming people to defend the country. And when the Yankees offer Skenes enough money that he could probably buy his own fleet of fighter jets, I don’t think whatever bond he builds with Pittsburgh will outweigh that.

“Let’s just let him be as good a pitcher as he can be, and let’s focus on winning as many games as we can with him and everybody else who is here right now,” Cherington added.

That’s probably the best we can do. I remember thinking the same thing about Bonds heading into 1992.

Francisco Cabrera doesn’t have any grandkids about to be drafted, does he?

I’m just bracing myself for the circle to be completed in 2030 or so.