LAS VEGAS — The Yankees would not be doing their job if they did not continue to check in on Paul Skenes.
They did at the trade deadline this year, as The Post’s Jon Heyman previously reported, and they almost certainly will again this offseason. But at least for now, they are likely to get the same answer.
“He’s going to be a Pirate in 2026,” Pirates GM Ben Cherington said Tuesday at the general managers meetings at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Skenes, the heavy favorite to win his first Cy Young on Wednesday night, still has four years of team control left, which would make the potential return for him astronomical at this point. But until the Pirates prove they can build a winning club around him, there will be questions about when and if he will be traded — including from Cherington’s fellow heads of baseball operations.
“The question gets asked and it’s always respectful,” Cherington said. “Teams have to ask the question, right? So I suspect that won’t end. But the answer has been consistent.”
Cherington and Yankees GM Brian Cashman have become frequent trade partners in recent years, including deals for Jameson Taillon, Clay Holmes and David Bednar.
But this offseason at least, Cherington insists his focus will be on building a roster to support Skenes and what he cares about the most.
“That probably gives us the best chance to keep him in Pittsburgh for longer, is winning games,” Cherington said.
The Yankees’ ability to develop catchers has caught the attention of the rest of the industry, especially those teams that have acquired them.
This past season, there were 11 catchers playing in the big leagues that had spent time in the Yankees’ organization and in their catching program — Austin Wells, Ben Rice, J.C. Escarra, José Trevino, Kyle Higashioka, Ben Rortvedt, Carlos Narváez, Luis Torrens, Agustín Ramírez, Rafael Flores and Alex Jackson — led by Tanner Swanson and Aaron Gershenfeld.
“I think they legitimately are developing catchers well,” said Cherington, who acquired two — Flores and Edgleen Perez — in the deal for David Bednar. “Doesn’t mean that every catcher that comes from the Yankees is going to be a good player, but you do trust that they’ve gotten pretty good training. That’s been consistent [with] the guys we’ve had, and Rafa included in the time we’ve had him and talked to him. They’re getting pretty good training at that position.”
The Yankees also used another catching prospect, Jesus Rodriguez, to help acquire Camilo Doval from the Giants at the deadline, just as they used Ramirez (who received downballot NL Rookie of the Year votes Monday) as the centerpiece to get Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the Marlins at the 2024 deadline.
“They do an incredible job,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “An incredible job with a lot of their player development, especially catching.”
The Yankees have some work to do in their bullpen this offseason, but acquiring Bednar at the deadline — with him being under club control through next season — gave them a strong head start.
In 22 games with the Yankees, Bednar posted a 2.19 ERA while taking over the closer’s role, then pitched well again in the playoffs.
“He’s one of the favorites I’ve ever been around,” Cherington said. “Somebody asked me at the time of the trade, how do you think he’ll do in a big market? I said, ‘He’ll do great, because he’s got confidence, he’s accountable, he’s talented, he likes the moment.’ Good for him.”
While Ramirez placed sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting, another former Yankees prospect, Caleb Durbin, finished third.
The Yankees dealt the infielder to the Brewers last offseason (along with Nestor Cortes) to acquire Devin Williams, a deal that may continue to haunt them down the road.
“He told us right away, he’s like, ‘I’ve been overlooked my whole life,’” Brewers GM Matt Arnold said. “And that’s why we kind of loved him. It felt like the industry kept overlooking him. I think if you saw him in the playoffs, you weren’t going to overlook him. He just kept stepping up the whole year and became a guy that was really reliable for us in our lineup.”
