The Pirates have agreed on a contract with first-round draft selection Konnor Griffin, as first reported by Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The team chose Griffin with the ninth overall pick, which came with a slot value slightly under $6.22MM. He signed for a bonus of just over $6.53MM, retracting his prior commitment to LSU.
After celebrating his 18th birthday in April, Griffin was the youngest player (and the only high schooler) taken with one of this year’s top 10 picks. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline ranked him as the No. 9 prospect entering the draft, while Keith Law of The Athletic had him at No. 10 and FanGraphs had him at No. 12.
Griffin excelled as both a hitter and a pitcher at Jackson Preparatory School, but he will begin his professional career as a position player. However, the evaluators at Baseball America suggest he has “a real fallback option as a pitcher.” That should tell you just how strong his tools are as a hitter and defender. Nearly every source agrees he has plus power, terrific speed, a strong arm, and the skills to be a valuable defender at shortstop or in center field. With so many tools at his disposal, it’s easy to see plenty of All-Star appearances in his future. That said, most evaluators have Griffin in the high (or even extreme) risk category given his youth and questions about how his hit tool will hold up against tougher competition.
Baseball America has Griffin immediately slotting in as the top position player and the second-best prospect in the Pirates’ system.
I have a good feeling about this kid, which is not usually the case for early Pirates draft picks. I look forward to uncorking this comment in 5 years and seeing how it has aged.
Just hoping that he’s not another Chad Hermanson for those who go back that far.
or Sammy Khalifa
@MBBucsguy Compared to Sammy in his rookie season, only five current Bucs are hitting over what his batting average was.
I remember his 1997 Bowman RC commanding a small fortune
Much of the hitting woes of some of the current players can be attributed to Andy Haines’ coaching style
Don’t let him coach this kid
I really wanted Chad to make it. Then came Doug Fobel supposed to be next Parker!?
He could be the next Mark Merchant!
I’m just glad I’m not responsible for predicting and forecasting how an 18 year kid will mature as a person and as a player.
He’ll be on the Yankees by then.
And then when he turns 38 the Cardinals will sign him to a six year FA deal
The Cardinals don’t hand out six year deals to anyone. But yes, if he goes back to pitching, he can plan to spend his late 30’s in the St. Louis rotation. On a 3 year deal.
Since 2007 the Cardinals have signed only one player to a 6-year deal and that was an extension to Paul Dejong in 2018.
I know this because I’m an MLBTR insider and you can be too for $30 a year!
funny how every Yankees fan thinks that every player wants to play in that crime ridden and overpopulated area
The birds….And you will be in an urn by then
GM and fans wipe sweat off forehead.
Boom! Never a doubt. This team is built for sustained success. Tons of upside for this kid.
Don’t look now but I actually agree with Buctober 2
By the time he’s up, skenes will be gone lol
They might overlap a bit.
But, who cares? You don’t think Pirates fan already know this?
It’s about sustaining success. Griffin should overlap nicely with Chandler, Ashcraft, Harrington, Barco, etc., and Jones, Ortiz, or Keller if they sign an extension (in Keller’s case, a second one). Pirates have the deepest pitching pool of any farm system in baseball. The goal is to be able to “afford” to lose Skenes when it’s time. Skenes will probably be traded for a boatload of prospects before his last year of team control (in 5 years).
#Black&GoldTrout
LSU – so close.
Pirates having an exciting week! Did more than I thought even though I was hoping for a big bat in the lineup.
Present looks good along with the figure. Now find the right mix and develop these guys and there’s a good team here for many years.
Love to see Cherington having a great 48 hours. A focus on drafting excellent pitching has paid off dividends. After the deadline we added to our top 10 prospects AND gained talent at the major league level at the same time without sacrificing either.
A great week to be a bucco fan.
like this guys ceiling 100% can fix that hitch in his swing, its about time the pirates get a power bat prospect
#CheringtonPOBO
Yesterday just reminded me how many awful gms there are. Pirates would be rolling the dice replacing Cherington. Might have to be happy with upper middle of pack. In a world of massive overpays he didn’t. Cruz isn’t good but he’s average and under control for years. For a 1b with no power and a A ball shoulder surgery? Heck yeah. IKF can play every position. Every position. Bat has been hot this year. Got him for next year. Took a better prospect to get him but they got him for 1 not multiple good not great prospect. Well done Ben. You took on as hard of a rebuild as anyone has taken on and got a winning team right on schedule. Have to keep improving hitting development but other than that you have this franchise healthier than it’s been since the 60s 70s.
Do you put yourself in that category of awful GMS?
Only the lowest intelligence of the population would put me there. The best gms are awful compared to me. I’m not a gm though. Only a fantasy gm dream. I’d never waste away my gifts working for those tiny businesses.
winning is a team effort and when your shortstop commits 3 errors and strikes out 3 times in one game, you’re not going to win many games
After last night’s loss, Cruz said, “ everyone will have games like this “. Who’s everyone thst he’s speaking of?
In his last 10 plate appearances he has struck out 8 times and in his last two games he has committed 4 errors
I still have mixed reviews on Cherrington and while he’s been a great breath of fresh air here for us he completely played the pitching market wrong in FA and I think it’s going to cost the lack of offense down the stretch when the division was wide open to him at day 1. A lot of his FA signings haven’t really cut the mustard either. He’s made a ton of noise though and a lot of his success goes to the farm vs the major league roster for me. And while he does the swinging he’s got to make his intention clear from the start because personally I think he half assed the offseason to gain equity which you should be doing on a rebuild, but his targeting was poor to begin with. Maybe that’s still market narrative, but the general direction and tone going forward is not only positive but encouraging.to be a bucs fan today and that’s saying something.
I think he did well in free agency. I will gladly look at your post of who you think he should have signed but all the ones I seen ended up being awful contracts or weren’t possible. He pretty much got everyone I suggested and even splurged for Chapman.
.333 ba .429 obp Jesse Winker