Would you accept the Paul Skenes card offer?

[Frisbee Slider]

Just read that an 11 year old from the Los Angeles area found the rarest Paul Skenes baseball card, one of one.

Pirates offered anyone who finds the card:

- Two season tickets behind home plate for 30 years at PNC Park 

- Personal softball game at PNC Park with Pirates alumni and 30 of your friends/family

- Batting practice at PNC Park

- Two Skenes autographed jerseys 

- ‘One of a kind’ spring training experience

- Meet and greet with Paul Skenes

- more 

Understandably, the 11 year old from Los Angeles declined the offer. The card is doubtless worth $100,000. I read maybe even $1,000,000.

If the Brewers made a similar offer for a baseball card for a generational talent, how much cash would you need to receive from selling the card in order to reject a similar offer? Or, would you simply accept the offer to help the Pirates?

 

[Frisbee Slider]

The retail value of tickets behind home plate at PNC Park is $100 to $200 each.

Lets assume $100 per ticket x two tickets x 81 home games x 30 years = $486,000, not adjusted for inflation or playoff games.

At a certain point, you can sell your home plate tickets and still receive a generous payout.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

They also offered a date with Livvy Dunne. They should wait until the kid is 13 and try that one again.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I would decline. The tickets would get old pretty fast. I question the retail value of those tickets too; it would fluctuate a lot, there are fees associated with selling, and selling is also just a pain in the butt. You can't really get the most out of doing that when you have to keep selling in fairly small chunks over a long period of time. 

The rest of the stuff in there is just random, for me anyway. Why do the Bucs even want it?

 

[nate82]

34 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

If the Brewers made a similar offer for a baseball card for a generational talent, how much cash would you need to receive from selling the card in order to reject a similar offer? Or, would you simply accept the offer to help someone like Paul Skenes?

The softball game I think is kind of neat.  I think I would accept this if it were the Brewers.  If it were a team that I don't really care about or they are not close to where I live I would rather prefer cash only.  If it were the Cubs or Cardinals they would have to offer me like $500mm just to sell it to them. 

[Frisbee Slider]

2 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Why do the Bucs even want it?

I assume it was a good faith effort to help Paul Skenes and Skenes would keep it. Otherwise, why would Livvy Dunne care about helping the Pittsburgh Pirates?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I assume it was a good faith effort to help Paul Skenes and Skenes would keep it. Otherwise, why would Livvy Dunne care about helping the Pittsburgh Pirates?

I guess I think it's weird that a guy who is going to become the highest-paid pitcher in baseball wants a card of himself.

[Frisbee Slider]

2 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I guess I think it's weird that a guy who is going to become the highest-paid pitcher in baseball wants a card of himself.

You were right. The Pirates were going to display the card at PNC Park. That seems like a lot for the Pirates to give up for a trading card. I guess it is a neat card but not sure fans would spend more money with the Pirates to see the card.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Poor Buccos. This offer was very likely to be declined by anyone, especially people not local to Pittsburgh, and now they get to be the butt of jokes about anyone wanting to watch them for 30 years.

[igor67]

I think it's solid advertising, on the face of it the offer looks respectable and now they get a bunch of social media buzz about their star player at what amounts to almost no cost.

[wallus]

This is marketing ... Pretty obvious.

[markedman5]

Yeah I don’t think this “ helps” the Pirates in any meaningful way……..I’d take it to auction.

[Frisbee Slider]

The probability that the person who acquired this card lives near Pittsburgh, or cares about the Pirates was always pretty low.

If this card actually is worth $1 million to someone, that is incredible. And makes it seem very unlikely anyone would turn down the opportunity to receive that kind of money. 

[Frisbee Slider]

If the Pirates included airfare and hotel accommodations for a few games per year, then it might be a little more interesting.

I suppose it was a well thought out publicity stunt from the beginning,

[bigred]

I would've definitely declined it. When Strassburg was drafted, I was selling a lot of cards and signed memorabilia on ebay back then, and if remember correctly, one of his 1/1 autographed rookie cards sold for well over $1M. Can't remember if it was a Topps, Bowman, etc, card, I just remember it sold for huge $$$. Plus, the season tickets would be a hassle, because the kid wasn't from the Pittsburgh area, so then he would've had the hassle of constantly selling them. I'd have much rather place it in a reputable sports memorabilia auction, and take the $$$$. 

[bigred]

If the Pirates were serious, they should've offered season tickets for 30 years, for the favorite team of whoever got the card. Or at least 15 years, since it's a different team. 

[Outlander]

I would take the money for my family. Being an accountant it would be a burden to pay taxes on what the Pirates gave me without any cash. If I sell the card I pay taxes but now have cash to pay the taxes plus money to do whatever I want. Also, would sell that card ASAP as he is hot now but that goes fast especially for pitchers.

[patrickgpe]

NO, the pirates tried to be cheap. Giving away season tickets cost you basically nothing. Also the point that you would have to pay sales taxes is a good one and doesn't get mentioned. Take the money, if the pirates wanted it so bad, they would have to shell out. 

[markedman5]

Does anyone think the fans really care about this stupid card?

I mean they will enjoy watching Skeenes pitch for the pirates for a few more years until they have to trade him. 
 

This whole thing seems so strange to me……lol

[bigred]

I wonder what the Brewers will.offer for a Chourio 1/1 card when it's pulled? Lol meant to be in blue. 

[Jopal78]

37 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Does anyone think the fans really care about this stupid card?

I mean they will enjoy watching Skeenes pitch for the pirates for a few more years until they have to trade him. 
 

This whole thing seems so strange to me……lol

Exactly. It boggles my mind someone will shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) for a baseball card which in 15 years won’t be worth even 1/20th of that. 

Babe Ruth game worn jersey from 90 years ago, I get that. A 1/1 rookie baseball card from 2024…. Not so much.

 

 

[bigred]

12 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Exactly. It boggles my mind someone will shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) for a baseball card which in 15 years won’t be worth even 1/20th of that. 

Babe Ruth game worn jersey from 90 years ago, I get that. A 1/1 rookie baseball card from 2024…. Not so much.

 

 

It may drop some, but if he ends up getting better each year, wins multiple Cy Young awards, etc, it could easily be worth more than that when his career is over. 

[markedman5]

I understand why a collector might want to speculate on it…….but a baseball team trying to barter for it to display at the stadium? 🤷‍♂️🙄
 

 

[Jopal78]

21 minutes ago, bigred said:

It may drop some, but if he ends up getting better each year, wins multiple Cy Young awards, etc, it could easily be worth more than that when his career is over. 

Not a chance.

Maybe if Skenes winds up being a legendary pitcher it would hold value to card collectors but even the  those typically are t the folks paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for cards.

One of a kind memorabilia sure I can see it, one of a kind baseball cards sure fire money losers at those amounts. 

[LouisEly]

8 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I assume it was a good faith effort to help Paul Skenes and Skenes would keep it. Otherwise, why would Livvy Dunne care about helping the Pittsburgh Pirates?

It was a game in Livvy Dunne's box.  She's dating Skenes, both went to LSU. 

Insert joke about an 11 year old not understanding the significance of Livvy Dunne's box...