MLB's Punching Bag is Finally Ready to Punch Back

The Pittsburgh Pirates are nobody's idea of a model MLB franchise, and they haven't been for a long time.

Their last trip to the World Series was in 1979. They lead the National League in losses since 1993. And in 20 years under Bob Nutting, their average Opening Day payroll ranks 27th out of 30 teams.

Yet the vibe has been shifting, and now the Pirates are about to make a $140 million bet that it will shift even further.

The club is officially calling up Konnor Griffin for its home opener in Pittsburgh on Friday, and ESPN's Buster Olney reported the two sides are finalizing a nine-year, $140 million contract. It would shatter the Pirates' franchise record and set a new mark for the largest deal ever for a player before his MLB debut.

Meet MLB's Newest Teenage Phenom

When the Pirates drafted Griffin No. 9 overall out of high school in 2024, he fit the usual bill of a top prep talent: equipped with compelling tools, but with upside that was entirely in the abstract.

Then he blew everyone away with his first pro season, playing at three levels of the minors and batting .333 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases. Throw in a MiLB Gold Glove award, and the kid basically ran out of boxes to check.

Though B/R's Joel Reuter has Griffin ranked as "only" the No. 2 prospect, most publications rank him at No. 1. With everything he can do, the elevator pitch is "if young Mike Trout played shortstop."

After torching Triple-A pitching for a 1.196 OPS through five games, Griffin will make his major league debut exactly three weeks before turning 20 on April 24. As noted by Pirates broadcaster Joe Block, eight players have played 10-plus games as a teenager since 1996.

Two are Hall of Famers, two others are MVPs, and three of the remaining four are multi-time All-Stars.

The Pirates Intend to Build Around Konnor Griffin

The winds changed in the Pirates' favor as soon as they drafted Paul Skenes in 2023. He was the NL Rookie of the Year the very next year, and took things a step further by winning the NL Cy Young Award last season.

Nonetheless, trade speculation has swirled around Skenes since seemingly the moment he set foot in the big leagues. And that would be absurd if it wasn't so rational.

By the standards of the Pirates and their notoriously cheap owner, a contract extension that would lock Skenes into Pittsburgh is nowhere near as affordable now as it would have been prior to his debut. And with the righty set for free agency after 2029, the clock is ticking on his exit from Pittsburgh.

This alone could explain why the Bucs were so determined to lock up Griffin now. There are also other factors, such as potentially major changes to baseball's collective bargaining agreement.

If the franchise also just wanted to throw its fanbase a long-awaited bone, well, that's admirable. And it might make some fans think twice about reiterating that Nutting should sell the team.

With Griffin, the Pirates Might Actually Be Good

What Pirates fans really want is to experience October baseball at PNC Park for the first time since 2015. Even better would be a win in a playoff series, something Pittsburgh hasn't experienced since those "We Are Family" days of 1979.

That brings us to the good news for Bucs fans. Or at least the good omen that is their escalating annual playoff odds at FanGraphs:

• 2021: 0.4 percent
• 2022: 0.9 percent
• 2023: 6.5 percent
• 2024: 16.2 percent
• 2025: 20.3 percent
• 2026: 45.3 percent

Starting pitching has a lot to do with their strong chances this year, and it isn't all Skenes. Flamethrowing righty Bubba Chandler is an NL Rookie of the Year candidate in his own right. And if it's a question of who is Skenes' No. 2, Mitch Keller and Braxton Ashcraft each has a strong claim.

What was MLB's lowest-scoring offense in 2025 now has newcomer power threats in Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn. And while his center field defense leaves much to be desired, Oneil Cruz might be ready to live up to his astronomical talent. He's already homered three times and posted a 1.029 OPS.

Sooner Would Be Better for the Pirates

The Pirates diehards out there know not to take anything for granted.

Their team has as many winning seasons since 1993 as it did just between 1988 and 1992. And no matter who the owner is, there's only so much to be done about how the Bucs play in one of the smallest North American media markets.

Though it helps that the Pirates apparently have no real interest in trading Skenes, the four-year window in which they're guaranteed to have him and Griffin is a shot they can't miss. They need to take advantage, starting now.

Will they actually be a playoff team in 2026? It's doubtful, frankly. Pittsburgh is the third-best team in the NL Central after the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, and four clubs in the NL's other two divisions have better playoff odds than the Bucs. Remember, there are only six spots to go around.

But if there's an encouraging model for Griffin and the Bucs in 2026, it's Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals in 2018.

That was the year when Soto had a .923 OPS and 22 homers as a 19-year-old rookie. And while the Nationals only won 82 games in 2018, he promptly made the leap to superstardom and was central to Washington's World Series win in 2019.

A .900 OPS is a tall order for Griffin, but a .700-something OPS with 20 homers, 20 steals and slick defense at shortstop sounds doable. And that's a star. Maybe even a Rookie of the Year.

After that, the Steel City will hope the rest is history.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.