PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates now have a pillar of the franchise in shortstop Konnor Griffin, who couldn’t be in a better place to succeed in the major leagues.
Griffin signed a nine-year, $140 million contract extension with the Pirates on April 8, that will keep him with the team through the 2034 season and as someone that can bring winning baseball to the city for the foreseeable future.
This contract is the largest for any rookie in MLB history and also the biggest in Pirates history, surpassing the eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension that Bryan Reynolds signed on April 25, 2023.
Griffin is just 19 years old and it’s a big commitment from the both the Pirates and himself to try and live up to those expectations and produce the way he’s projected to do.
He has a great support system, including his father Kevin Griffin, who sees the pressure that his son has on him.
Kevin Griffin is confident in his son’s abilities, but also that he could make Pittsburgh his home far after his first contract is over.
“Not really. When you look at it, he’s just a kid who loves playing baseball,” Kevin Griffin said. “The fact that those numbers are as big as they are, it’s kind of overwhelming. Kind of feels surreal to be standing here thinking about it. If you ask Konnor, this is something he dreamed about from the time he started playing the game. He didn’t understand the dynamic of the value of a dollar.
“But now that he’s in this situation, he has said, he wanted to be a Pirate and play in the same organization his entire career. He’s been around guys like Chipper Jones who said it’s so special to be able to play in one place your whole career. I know this is the first nine of it. Hopefully there will be more to come after that.”