Pirates and Livvy Dunne propose insane trade offer for Paul Skenes baseball card

In MLB's heyday, baseball cards were all the rage. There was no better collectible across the sports sphere. The hubbub surrounding them eventually minimized. But, since the COVID-19 pandemic, they've experienced a renaissance, and one recent announcement has stoked the already-immense flames into a larger fervor.

Earlier this week, Topps revealed they were releasing a unique Paul Skenes card in their newest batch of baseball cards. The special piece features Skenes' autograph and the "MLB Debut" patch he wore when stepped onto the scene versus the Chicago Cubs on May 11.

Every baseball card or memorabilia fanatic is on the hunt for this card, which came out on Wednesday. Now, though, a new contestant has entered the race to find it, and they've come prepared with a once-in-a-lifetime trade offer for the lucky one who does.

The Pittsburgh Pirates want to own the 1/1 Paul Skenes card

As the organization for whom Skenes plies his trade, the Pirates couldn't pass up a great marketing opportunity. They already have the real-life player on the rubber. Now, they want to display the rare piece featuring him at PNC Park, and they're willing to pony up quite a hefty package to secure it.

Pittsburgh's proposal is appealing to say the least. 30 years of premium seats behind the plate is already one heck of an offer, but combine it with some signed Skenes merch and numerous opportunities for VIP experiences with the team and its facilities and you've got a nigh irresistible deal.

However, the compensation package doesn't end there. As one of the league's perpetual low-spending operations and bottom-tier teams, it may not be enough to entice a non-Pirate fan to part with the card. So Skenes' girlfriend—LSU gymnast and TikTok star Livvy Dunne—got in on the action.

Dunne's add-on offer certainly doesn't hurt Pittsburgh's chances of acquiring the card. For better or worse, it may even increase the likelihood of them landing it in the end. But it still doesn't compare to the tantalizing nature of cold, hard cash.

How much money could the Skenes card fetch?

Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 home run ball from earlier this year recently sold for $4.4 million dollars. The price tag was the largest in history for "any ball of any sport." However, the cost is still less than some paid to obtain rare baseball cards.

In August 2022, a 1952 Mickey Mantle card became the first sports item to sell for eight figures at an auction. Per The New York Times, the $12.6 million investment was $3.3 million larger than the previous record of $9.3 million for Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" jersey from the 1986 World Cup.

The chance of Skenes' card reaching such heights, at this time, is improbable. A recent list of ten high-selling baseball cards created by Public.com included only one made in the past 50 years. That item - a 2009 Mike Trout autographed 1/1 prospect card - earned $3.84 million in 2020. Funny enough, Trout pulled a similar card himself with his son this August.

In many ways, that may be the best comparable product to this Skenes card. However, Trout had won three MVP awards, finished second in MVP voting four times and appeared in eight All-Star games by then. Skenes currently has just the one All-Star nod and a top-three Cy Young placement on his ledger, though he'll add NL Rookie of the Year to his trophy cabinet next week.

Barring injury, Skenes could easily put together a resume as impressive as Trout's. He, like Trout and his rookie card, appears to be one-of-one. No matter how lavish the Pirates make their offer, that fact may not be enough to keep whoever finds the card from holding onto it in hope of a massive payday down the line.

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