PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes claimed to have a relatively quiet night ahead of him after winning the BBWAA's National League Rookie of the Year award on Monday.

"Going to sleep early and getting back to work [Monday]," the Pirates pitcher insisted on a Zoom call shortly after the winners were announced.

Let's hope his employer has a different plan ahead — avoid the typical offseason slumber and get to work.

It's crazy, I know. I've been around this team enough to realize it's foolish to expect activity on Nov. 19. At the same time, much of what Skenes did was unexpected, right?

— Nobody had started the MLB All-Star Game the season after they were drafted No. 1 overall.

— Nobody had won Rookie of the Year, started the All-Star Game and posted an ERA under 2.00 (1.96) while also striking out 10 or more per nine innings (11.50).

— No Pirates pitcher who made at least 16 starts had a lower batting average against (.198).

I could go on, but you get the point. Skenes was incredibly and historically good.

He's also an absurd bargain when compared to his contemporaries, pitchers in this case we can identify as his competition for the NL Cy Young Award: Atlanta's Chris Sale and Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler.

The first will make $22 million in 2025, the second $42 million. Skenes? Try an estimated $800,000 or so.

If the Pirates can't or won't use those savings in other places and build a team around a pitcher who will likely be the favorite to capture the 2025 NL Cy Young because he'll be here all year, that's simply unacceptable.

Shortly after congratulating Skenes — who deserved the award over San Diego's Jackson Merrill based on the sheer history and uniqueness of what he did — alarm bells should've gone off at 115 Federal Street, the countdown continuing for precious years of the gigantic right-hander the Pirates have left.

While I consider that a big-market team will probably pay Skenes $50 million or more to pitch for them one day an indictment of MLB's goofy financial landscape, what the Pirates do before Skenes becomes a free agent is within their control.

The urgency should have already started, frankly. It only intensifies with Skenes' success and league-wide profile.

One bit of good news, of course, is that the cupboard isn't bare, believe it or not. Skenes should team with Jared Jones, Mitch Keller and Luis Ortiz to form a solid top-four. The rotation can extend out to 10 if you include Bailey Falter, Johan Oviedo, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft.

That doesn't stink.

"There's a lot of talent coming up," Skenes said. "And so, we have to find ways to continue to get better, both individually and as a team."

Couldn't agree more. The Pirates need to get Ke'Bryan Hayes healthy and pull more production out of Jack Suwinski and Henry Davis. The same on the pitching side with David Bednar and Colin Holderman, two high-powered arms who should anchor the bullpen in 2025.

But it's not just internal improvement. Owner Bob Nutting must recognize the opportunity the Pirates have here and respond accordingly, buying at least one premium bat (hopefully two) and adding legitimate depth in the bullpen.

First-base options abound, from trades for guys like Baltimore's Ryan Mountcastle and Tampa's Yandy Diaz to free agents such as Christian Walker or Pete Alonso. (Certainly not holding my breath for Walker or Alonso, but what a statement that would be.) Even someone like Paul Goldschmidt would send a message that the Pirates are serious.

Related: That message still needs to be delivered.

This offseason, you may have noticed, has not been kind to the Pirates. The negativity surrounding them is as bad as it was in 2019 and maybe worse, the result of so few changes to the coaching staff.

It looked like the Pirates were calibrated correctly when they extended Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Mitch Keller. Ditto for drafting Skenes, as well as breaking camp with Jared Jones in their starting rotation. They deserve credit for those things.

But they're also behind schedule while going from 62 to 76 to ... 76 wins again.

The good news, the game-changer, has been the emergence of Skenes, culminating in the hardware he obtained Monday for posting the lowest ERA for a pitcher since the stat became official over a century ago and holding hitters to a laughably small .234 slugging percentage against with his splinker.

What Skenes did this past season made this award a slam dunk in my mind. No offense to Merrill, but he wasn't among the league's three best outfielders. Skenes had the best ERA in baseball since he debuted.

There was also some novelty to Skenes' emergence, a mania that swept the city and immediately bonded him with Pittsburgh.

It might not be Andrew McCutchen, but Skenes at this point isn't terribly far behind, something he surely learned while attending the Steelers' game on Sunday.

"That was probably the coolest thing about going, seeing how fans unite around them," Skenes said. "I saw it all year with how they treated us. That's going to be huge in creating an identity with our team. It's an awesome city, and we owe it to them to go out and win."

Skenes did his part, and I'm excited to see how he spreads his leadership wings in year two, as well as pitching deeper into games and logging more innings. No doubt from this seat that those things will happen.

What most question is the type of team the Pirates will put around Skenes, if they'll improve enough and whether they'll capitalize on this golden opportunity.

They have the makings with a solid pitching staff and key bats in a couple places. The next steps involve spending money, internal development and recapturing what we saw in pockets last season.

"I'm optimistic," Skenes said. "We obviously have a really good core in our starting rotation. In the lineup, too. We have an opportunity to help the guys we have improve. That's something I'm bought in on. It's something our front office and coaching staff are bought in on as well. The coaching staff hires we've made so far are really good.

"You can say as much as you want about wanting to compete and wanting to win, but doing it and being intentional with it are two different things. I think we're on the right track there."

Having learned first-hand how much this team means to Pittsburgh baseball fans and how badly those good people want to see a winner, let's hope Skenes is right.

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