By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up the No. 1 prospect, shortstop Konnor Griffin. In addition, the Pirates locked him up with a nine-year, $140 million contract extension.
We have never seen a deal of this magnitude for a player who hasn’t made his debut until today. Griffin is set to make his MLB debut against the Baltimore Orioles in the Pirates’ home season debut at 4:20 pm ET. Griffin has been trending all over social media. His performance in Triple-A lately has everyone talking about him.
The 19-year-old shortstop was hitting .438 with a 1.196 OPS with five walks, four strikeouts, and three stolen bases in his first five games at AAA. Griffin will turn 20 on April 20. In the 21st century, Griffin will join the list of teenage players to make the big leagues: Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Jurickson Profar, and Jose Reyes. That’s an elite company right there. If Griffin can stay healthy and produce, then we could witness one of the greats to play at the shortstop position and in baseball in general.
The Pirates are doing the right thing to give a big contract to their top prospect. We are seeing a trend of organizations awarding large contracts to young players. The Seattle Mariners did that recently with their No 1 prospect, shortstop Colt Emerson. It’s been to give an 8-, 9-, or 10-year contract to a 20-21-year-old instead of a 30-31-year-old.
Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz are the top stars for the Pirates. The front office knows better than to build around those guys. Pittsburgh has suffered for a long time. The team is not in a top-market city. Therefore, they must go all in and try to win now as soon as possible. The Pirates have a bright future as long as the front office doesn’t screw things up by trading away their assets.
The Pirates are 3-3 this season. All three games for this weekend will be in the afternoon.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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