Let me start with this…

This idea, this thing I am writing about, and you are (hopefully) reading about, should absolutely, under no circumstances, with no hesitation or reservation, ever EVER happen.

But will it?

…no…no. No…of course not, no.

But maybe?

No. No, definitely not.

I’m sure you have probably seen this tweet from the Yanks Center, suggesting ESPN’s Jeff Passan – your friend and mine and my personal suit advisor – had suggested the Pittsburgh Pirates’ “best move could be trading generational talent Paul Skenes,” assuming multiple teams will ask about the 2023 First Overall Pick before the 2025 Trade Deadline.

Of course, based on the name of the account which tweeted this ludicrous thought, you can assume the replies are littered with jokes – intentional (Estevan Florial, Miguel Andujar, et al) and not (‘legitimate’ offers) – with enough trade proposals to fuel several YouTube videos and drive my dear friend Rhys White absolutely insane.

Speaking of “drive my dear friend Rhys White absolutely insane,” though…

Oh, hi, Adam!

You can call it whatever you want – I will go with “post-deadline-day delusion” – but when I saw this tweet of Adam’s, I did what I normally do when I see my pal’s tweets and laugh at his wit.

But then – inspiration struck me.

If Adam (and assumedly anybody else) was disgusted with 85 percent of these Red Sox returns to Pittsburgh for Skenes, I wonder what I could cook up for one of the most currently-down-bad teams in the league to acquire arguably the game’s most valuable asset.

That’s right, bleach those socks, Adam! – we’re talkin’ Skenes to the White Sox.