11-year-old card collector rejects Pirates' offer for one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes card

LOS ANGELES (KDKA) - The 11-year-old Los Angeles boy who pulled the 1-of-1 Paul Skenes autographed trading card has declined the Pirates' offer to purchase the card. 

In exchange for the card, the Pirates were offering two season tickets behind home plate at PNC Park for 30 years, a softball game at PNC Park for 30 people, two autographed Skenes jerseys, and a "one-of-a-kind" Spring Training experience at Pirates City in Bradenton, Florida. 

In an effort to sweeten the pot, Skenes's girlfriend Livvy Dunne, the LSU gymnastic and social media influencer, offered the finder a chance to watch a game in her suite at PNC Park. 

 In a social media post from Topps, the lucky kid declined the Pirates' offer, instead opting to send the card to auction. 

Now, the card will go to auction as part of the March premier auction with Fanatics Collect announcing that proceeds from the auction of the one-of-one card will be donated to Los Angeles fire relief funding. 

Topps also shared pictures of the 11-year-old's journal entry where he wrote, "I started begging my mom for it [Topps 2024 chrome update]...since they are awesome they got the box! The first present we opened was the hobby box...on the second pack, I got the Paul Skenes redemption card!" 

Despite the boy declining the Pirates' offer, they did share a message with him saying "Well, we're bummed that we won't be seeing you behind home plate for 30 seasons, but we'd still love to bring you to Pittsburgh for a special day at PNC Park this season." 

Skenes was named the National League Rookie of the Year after a huge season recording a 1.96 ERA, an 11-3 record, 170 strikeouts, and a 0.95 WHIP in 23 starts. 

• Pittsburgh Pirates