{"id":671278,"date":"2026-04-09T01:10:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671278\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:10:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:10:21","slug":"paul-skenes-sounds-the-alarm-on-future-after-pirates-sign-konnor-griffin-to-record-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671278\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Skenes sounds the alarm on future after Pirates sign Konnor Griffin to record deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps Paul Skenes<\/a> didn\u2019t mean to, but his latest comment raised eyebrows all across town. After the Pittsburgh Pirates inked Konnor Griffin to a nine-year, $140 million contract<\/a> (which can rise up to $150 million), Skenes dropped an honest statement on Griffin, but one that could reveal he doesn\u2019t see a future in the City of Bridges.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be the face of the Pirates<\/a> for a long time,\u201d Skenes said about Griffin, via reporter Justin Guerriero on X. Just six games into his MLB career, Griffin put pen to paper on the biggest contract in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Skenes\u2019 comments set off the alarms in Pittsburgh. Many fans believe Skenes is the face of the franchise and will be that way for the remainder of his career, regardless of how great Griffin\u2014the No. 1 prospect in MLB<\/a>\u2014turns out to be. However, the star starting pitcher\u2019s statement has now left his future up in the air.<\/p>\n

Either he believes Griffin is a better player than him, or he believes the Pirates won\u2019t be good anytime soon and he won\u2019t stay in town for long. Even if Skenes wanted out of Pittsburgh, though, his contract situation makes things more complicated. It\u2019s not like a public comment in April 2026 will immediately set him free.<\/p>\n

\"Konnor<\/p>\n

Konnor Griffin #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on.<\/p>\n

Skenes\u2019 contract with Pirates<\/p>\n

Back in July of 2023, Skenes was signed to a record-setting $9.2 million signing bonus. Since then, he\u2019s been playing on pre-arbitration one-year contracts with a rising salary. Skenes will become eligible for arbitration for the first time ahead of the 2027 MLB season. <\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has its ace signed to a extremely team-friendly deal, but Skenes will demand proper compensation soon. If the Pirates don\u2019t offer him a deal he believes is aligned with his value, he might push to be traded. Moreover, Pittsburgh has set a precedent with Griffin\u2019s contract, and it may have handed Skenes a blueprint for the starting pitcher to craft his ideal extension. <\/p>\n

PAUL SKENES\u2019 CONTRACT STATUS AGE2026UNDER CONTRACT ($1,085,000 PAYROLL) 242027ARBITRATION YEAR 1 252028ARBITRATION YEAR 2 262029ARBITRATION YEAR 3 272030UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT (UFA) 28Can Skenes leave Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n

The Louisiana State University alum will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2029 campaign. In the meantime, he could ask for a trade out of Pittsburgh. That\u2019s about the only option he has to skip town. <\/p>\n

The alternative route requires the Pirates to not tender Skenes and allow him to sign with another organization. The odds of that are slim, likely on par with the chances of an average human getting a hit off a fastball from Skenes. <\/p>\n

Thus, even if his latest comment could be interpreted as a hint of his future exit, fans in the Burgh can remain calm that if Skenes leaves, it won\u2019t be anytime soon. Now is not the time to hit the panic button. At least, not yet.<\/p>\n

SurveyWho will be the face of the franchise for the Pirates?<\/p>\n

Who will be the face of the franchise for the Pirates?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perhaps Paul Skenes didn\u2019t mean to, but his latest comment raised eyebrows all across town. After the Pittsburgh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2402],"tags":[5,4,82291,877,10,776,64,4297],"class_list":{"0":"post-671278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-pirates","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-nomsn","11":"tag-paul-skenes","12":"tag-pirates","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","15":"tag-pittsburghpirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116372088427445742","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}