The Pirates are calling up shortstop Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in all of baseball, to make his major league debut in tomorrow’s home opener, Pirates insider Jason Mackey reports.
The Pirates are calling up shortstop Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in all of baseball, to make his major league debut in tomorrow’s home opener, Pirates insider Jason Mackey reports.
Ron Madden (04-02-2026)
Pirates are calling up Konnor Griffin already. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/...spect-mlb.html
Ron Madden (04-02-2026)
Glad the Reds missed him, I guess? Although it would have added excitement. The timing is strange though because it doesn't accomplish any service time manipulation. So why not just have him on the Opening Day roster? Perhaps it's related to ongoing contract extension negotiations.
They wanted to keep him away from the chiliOriginally Posted by *BaseClogger*
I’m guessing they want big league debut to be at home and that’s why they sent him down for a week.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
Chip R (04-04-2026)
From the MLBTR link:
It’s possible the Bucs simply wanted Griffin to make his debut at home, popping ticket sales throughout the weekend and further boosting excitement for fans after an uncharacteristically aggressive offseason. It’s also feasible that the two parties have become close enough on a long-term contract that the Pirates are making the move to promote him now and will announce an extension not long after his debut. The benefits in that scenario are straightforward. Players who sign extensions before making their MLB debut are not eligible to net draft picks for their club under MLB’s prospect promotion incentives; players who sign extensions after debuting remain PPI eligible. So long as any contract is finalized after Griffin has debuted, he’d net the Pirates an extra draft pick either by winning 2026 NL Rookie of the Year honors or with a top-three finish in MVP voting in 2026-28. (A player can only generate one total PPI pick for his team.)
Konnor Griffin gets a nine-year, $140 million deal from the Pirates. That shatters the record for largest contract before making an MLB debut.
This is wild to me. I mean, he certainly looks the part, but dude has never faced major league pitching.
What would you say.....ya do here?
Yamamoto got 330 million without pitching an inning in MLB. If the Reds had signed Elly to a deal like this before he was called up we would've been happy about it. The Reds haven't been pro active enough in extending players or moving expiring contracts IMO.
shaggy (04-03-2026)
Fair enough, but Yamamoto was a bit older IIRC and pitched in the NPB
A small market team giving $140 mil to a 19 year old just seems like a risky move to me. I am probably wrong, though.
What would you say.....ya do here?
Perhaps part of a strategy to try and convince Skenes to agree to an extra year or two with them?
The Pirates certainly know it's a risk. They're the ones who gave Gregory Polanco a big contract when he was a first or second year player.
It's literally the only chance a small market team has at keeping elite talent beyond the 6 years of control window. The Reds waited too long on offering Elly a deal. The Pirates have basically no shot at getting Skenes signed now, but if they had thrown 200 million at him in 2024 they might have got something done. If the Reds wait until Sal puts up a 35 HR 100 RBI season his price will likely double from where it is now.
Boss-Hog (04-03-2026)
Maybe it will be like, you know, when a guy gets struck by lightning, and suddenly he can see with greater acuity, or has bionic hearing, or ESP or sumpin'. Maybe this will turn out well for CB. He might even be able to run the bases like Dela Cruz, now.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck , and pitches like a duck ... it's a duck.
Last edited by Ky Fried Redleg; 04-03-2026 at 10:49 AM.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
I wondered if they were trying to show Skenes they mean business too. The problem is that Skenes will sign for two or three times that much and the Pirates just spent all their money.
Are they hoping for a salary cap? The Griffin deal is a good one, I think, but I can never wrap my head around Pirates’ management thinking.
There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.
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