Konnor Griffin just received another massive endorsement that changes Pirates’ expectations

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the precipice of something great. 2026 proved that there is talent on this roster, and with that comes expectations. We've seen that in ESPN's early 2027 power rankings that rank the Pirates as the ninth-best team in MLB. Of course, in making the case for Pittsburgh's strength, the club's warts also come to light.

There will certainly be internal improvements in 2027, and the player who heads the list of growth candidates is superstar-in-waiting Konnor Griffin. The Pirates smartly struck early and locked up Griffin to a nine-year, $140 million extension back in April. Still, things didn't go exactly as planned for the young phenom.

Griffin finished the year with a .272/.324/.404 line with six homers and 23 steals. A forearm strain and then a torn finger tendon cost him nearly half the season, but even when he was healthy, his good-but-not-great campaign didn't ring many Rookie of the Year bells.

However, in a ranking of the 2026 rookies with the highest future value by Jim Callis of MLB.com, Griffin reigned supreme.

Konnor Griffin's immense value is why the Pirates must go all-in on building around him this offseason

Callis makes a couple of salient points that really put things in perspective. First, if you extrapolate what Griffin was producing over a full season, he would have become the first player age 20 or younger since Mike Trout to hit .272 with 12 homers and 43 steals. The second is that after a bit of a slow start, Griffin hit .306/.361/.459 in May, but just as he was hitting his stride, he was cut down by injury.

Griffin also finished the 2026 campaign on a massive heater. Over his last 11 games, he hit .348/.388/.543. It served as yet another little flash of what is likely to come down the pike.

The relatively pedestrian numbers overall from Griffin in his rookie campaign obscure the fact that he's still incredibly young and massively talented. It's a big deal. We're talking about a generational talent.

When it comes to baseball, one player can only do so much. We've seen superstars stuck on bad teams before, and that's because a hitter is only going to get four, maybe five, plate appearances in a given game. A superstar can certainly impact games, carry a team for a few weeks, and raise the floor, but this isn't the NBA where a supreme talent can carry a subpar roster to the playoffs.

That's why Pittsburgh must capitalize on the value that Griffin provides. The window of contention is open if the team chooses to go through it. They should, too, because that window won't stay open forever.

The Pirates aren't devoid of talent beyond Griffin. There's Oneil Cruz, who became a star in his own right in 2026. There are Bryan Reynolds, Ryan O'Hearn, and a few others who are solid veterans. On the pitching side of things, Braxton Ashcraft emerged as a top-of-the-rotation starter, and Paul Skenes is likely to bounce back. As things are currently constructed, this is a pretty good roster.

Pretty good isn't good enough. It didn't get Pittsburgh to the postseason in 2026, and it won't in 2027 without help being brought in from the outside. On top of that, the window will only stay open for so long. O'Hearn is entering the last year of his deal. Oneil Cruz will soon need an extension, or the club will need to move on. The clock is ticking on Paul Skenes.

The Pirates, then, don't have time to waste. This is a team with real needs — a second baseman, a right-handed power bat and a left-handed starter, just to name a few — and if these issues aren't addressed, the playoff drought will continue. With each year that passes, the core will get more expensive, and difficult choices will need to be made.

The Pirates have Griffin in the fold for a good, long while, but if they are going to maximize what he brings to the table, they need to add additional firepower to win now, while also making smart decisions to set up the future. If they fail to do these things, they'll squander an extremely valuable asset.

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