PHENOM PITCHER PAUL SKENES | PHOTO BY HARRISON BARDEN/PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Don’t look now but the Pirates are making national news again, and this time it isn’t because a fan fell from the Clemente Wall. No, this time, the Pirates are being linked to — wait for it — an effort to do what it takes to  play winning baseball.

The source of such a mind-boggling suggestion is none other than ESPN’s Jeff Passan, a respected voice in the industry with a reputation for providing information rather than hot takes.

Passan reported this week that the Pirates actually tried to land first baseman Josh Naylor before he eventually re-signed with Seattle, that they have legitimate interest in left fielder Kyle Schwarber, that they’ll pursue one of the two Japanese sluggers heading for MLB this offseason, Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto, and that they’re considering giving the keys to the shortstop position to 19-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin.

All of the above falls into the category of being among the last such things you’d expect from the Pirates.

Could it be they have finally tired of finishing last?

Or maybe, just maybe, the Pirates have finally grasped the potential of their pitching staff, in general, and Paul Skenes, in particular. And maybe they’re prepared to take a shot at seeing where that can take them before Skenes leaves via a trade or free agency and the potential contention window slams shut again.

Maybe.

It seems much more than just a coincidence that Passan’s assessment of the Pirates’ 180-degrees-turn was posted about a week after a story surfaced quoting an anonymous Pirates teammate who maintained that Skenes would just as soon be traded to the Yankees sooner rather than later.

Skenes denied he ever told anyone any such a thing during a visit on “The Dan Patrick Show” this week.

“Obviously, it’s not true, Skenes insisted.

That week-later denial didn’t make the initial report any less credible.

It might have even been credible enough to get the Pirates’ attention.

Of course, they haven’t done anything yet. And until they do, fans have every right to remain as skeptical as the Bucs have been indifferent to winning.

It’s one thing to make Naylor an offer, it’s another to make one competitive enough that he actually accepts it.

It’s one thing to be “in on Schwarber,” as Passan reported the Pirates are, and another to be willing to fork over the $40 million or so a season for multiple seasons it would take to bring him here and allow his left-handed mashing to commence regular assaults on the Clemente Wall.

Until something actually happens, they’re still the same old Pirates.

No money spent here, so nothing to see here, even with Skenes.

But what if they split the difference between Schwarber and the usual one-year-deal-for-Tommy Pham approach to free agency?

What if Griffin ends up being the shortstop (and the start of his free-agent clock be damned) and they add a couple of bats?

Passan is contemplating such possibilities as, well, at least possible.

And that makes the Pirates intriguing again (at least until Thanksgiving, after which Passan expects the free-agent market to kick into high gear).

“The mere thought of pushing Griffin to team up with a fresh batch of free-agent bats and a front-line rotation is tantalizing enough to make the Pirates a team to watch this winter,” Passan wrote.

It’s been a minute since the Bucs have been a team to watch in the summer.

At least trying to change that is a step in the right direction.

A small step, yes.

And perhaps, in the end, an insignificant one.

Still, you have to start somewhere.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.