Konnor Griffin Contract Rumors Addressed By Pirates GM After No. 1 Prospect's MLB Debut

Konnor Griffin is 19 years old and just days removed from his MLB debut, but Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is already thinking about the shortstop's long-term future with the organization.

"I think about past experience with things like this, when they happen, it's usually some combination of the player being open and interested, the team having a high level of belief and conviction in the player, and then having organizational alignment around that," Cherington said, per Will Graves of the Associated Press.

"I do think some of those ingredients are in place with Konnor, and so that would give me a level of hope, potentially."

Griffin, who was the No. 1 overall prospect in the sport coming into the season according to MLB.com's rankings, made his MLB debut on Friday and was just 1-for-13 coming into Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres.

However, he broke out in the 7-1 win over San Diego and went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run. It may have been a sign of things to come for the young star in the making, and making sure he is inked to a long-term deal would help the Pirates ensure that stardom happens with their organization.

And such a move would come with recent precedent.

As Graves explained, the Seattle Mariners recently signed 20-year-old Colt Emerson to an eight-year deal before his MLB debut. What's more, the Milwaukee Brewers did the same with 21-year-old Cooper Pratt.

For his part, Griffin said he wants to remain with the Pirates "for a long time," which is surely encouraging for the front office as it looks to build a playoff contender around young cornerstones such as Paul Skenes and Griffin.

While Pittsburgh hasn't been to the playoffs since the 2015 campaign, it is off to a 7-4 start with plenty of reason for optimism moving forward.

Signing Griffin to a long-term deal would only increase that optimism.