It’s happening. Again.

The Chicago Cubs—who spent most of the 2025 season’s first half atop the NL Central—have gone 5-5 in their last ten games, allowing the Milwaukee Brewers to climb into first place, while sending North Side fans into their traditional mid-summer tizzy.

And pitching is the main culprit.

Much of the top end of Chicago’s starting staff has been (Shota Imanaga), or currently is in (Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon) the hospital ward. As for the healthy hurlers, some have been sent down to the minors (Ben Brown) while others haven’t lived up to lofty, possibly unrealistic expectations (Cade Horton).

This all is a bummer, as the Cubs field one of the most potent offenses in team history; their current 5.35 runs-per-game average would be the franchise’s third-best. But if the staff keeps getting shelled—they’ve allowed a combined 18 runs in their last two games—and the team can’t sneak into the postseason, the campaign will be considered a disaster.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ year already is a disaster. We’ll spare you a deep dive; just suffice it to say that their -70 run differential is the sixth-worst in the league, and their 13-37 road record is MLB’s second from the bottom.

The one bright spot is Paul Skenes, who, despite being saddled with one of the worst rosters in team history—and that’s saying something—sports a 1.91 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, and a sick 5.3 WAR. His insane strikeout-to-walk ratio is 137-to-31, and his even more insane strikeout-to-hit ratio is 137-85.

Despite those generationally frightening numbers, his record is 5-8. But even prime Cy Young couldn’t have topped .500 with this really, really bad team.

The Pirates have insisted they have zero interest in trading their sophomore superduperstar, but it might not be a bad idea to at least consider it.

Bleacher Report ranks the Pittsburgh farm system as the third-best in the league, so an infusion of young talent and draft picks might make the team relevant in, say, four years. After all, Skenes can’t do it on his own.

That all being the case, this deal might make the Pirates’ future look a scootch brighter:

Chicago Cubs receive:

Pittsburgh Pirates receive:

The Pirates Win a Skenes Trade? Really?!?

Here’s why this wouldn’t suck too badly for Pirates fans:

As for the Cubs, sure, they’d be mortgaging much of their future, but a Skenes-led rotation would put them in the World Series mix for five-ish years. Losing Tucker would be a blow, but his contract is up at the end of this year, and he’s yet to express any notable concrete public interest in making Wrigley Field his long-term home.

Horton and Ballesteros could be stars, but during a season in which a championship is within Chicago’s grasp—and a stud starter might put them over the edge—giving the house to get a single otherworldly talent might make perfect sense.