The Pittsburgh Pirates have the consensus top prospect in baseball in Konnor Griffin, and they see him as someone who could be the face of their franchise.
The Pirates reportedly have already discussed a big-time contract extension with Griffin who still hasn’t played a game in the major league, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. The details of this contract that Mayo reported go further than $100 million over a massive nine-year contract.
Griffin was the ninth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft
out of Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Miss. and he spent the entire 2025 season in the Minor leagues.
The 19-year old hasn’t even featured at Triple-A yet, but Griffin brings exactly what the Bucs need and what they have been looking for out of that shortstop position.
Griffin not playing at the Major League level yet makes a contract extension very risky for Pittsburgh, but one that they are willing to take. Waiting until Griffin becomes a MLB star will make signing him much more difficult, in terms of the money involved and the years too.
MLB teams get six years of team control with their players before they become free agents and can then choose who they want to play for.
A contract extension would give both sides what they want. The Pirates would take off years of free agency from Griffin, three years if they did sign him to that nine-year deal, and Griffin would make money far earlier in his career than waiting until after the 2031 season to do so.
Griffin being the top prospect in baseball and signing an extension before his MLB debut would be record breaking. The contract would also have potential to be the biggest contract in Pirates history too.
It is very rare to see a move made like this especially for a player with no major league experience but it’s a move that I think is smart. Griffin is the future of the franchise and if he turns out to be as good as everyone is saying then it would be smart for Pittsburgh to have locked up for a while.
A nine-year contract for that much money does seem like a lot, but we have seen the Pirates in the past not want to spend money on star players and they let them walk. I am glad it looks like they don’t want history to repeat itself and have Griffin walk. Now he could obviously leave after his extension but this move is something we are just not used to seeing the Bucs do.
The talented shortstop will not be on the Opening Day roster, but we should expect to see him in the Majors at some point for the 2026 season.
