This week, an MLB executive detailed what the Boston Red Sox’s cost would be if they somehow got the chance to trade for Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Paul Skenes.

Despite having one of the best pitchers in baseball, the Pirates are on pace to extend their streak of seasons outside the playoffs to 10. With the club’s ownership again doing very little to improve the roster this offseason, there is a belief that they are the Athletics of the East and will just waste Skenes’ prime years. Unsurprisingly, it has created a debate on whether Pittsburgh should trade him.

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If the 22-year-old shockingly hit the trade block, he would be at the center of the biggest sweepstakes in MLB history. And many of the league’s wealthiest teams would certainly be involved, including the Red Sox. In a new article from MLB Network insider Mark Feinsand, one league executive offered up a detailed look at the hefty price for Boston to get the one-time All-Star.

“The reality is that few teams have that many good players to trade,” the AL exec said. “I guess the Red Sox could send [Triston] Casas, [Roman] Anthony, [Marcelo] Mayer, [Kristian] Campbell, and [Tanner] Houck, assuming they won’t trade their extended guys. Writing that down makes me think, ‘Hmmm, maybe Pittsburgh should make a call.’”

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Many of those aforementioned players are among the Red Sox’s top prospects over the last few years. Such a move would certainly gut their future. But that is what it probably will take to get an elite player that is barely in his 20s and under team arbitration control for two more seasons.

Boston has the money to bring in more talent in upcoming seasons. They also have enough on the roster now where adding Skenes this year or next should put them in the running for a top spot in the playoffs.

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