Ranking the 10 most valuable young players in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization

2. Konnor Griffin

Konnor Griffin is off to a fantastic start to his professional career in Low-A. At just 19 years old, he looks like the most valuable prospect to the organization. He and Chandler are both a toss up for top prospect, but given Griffin is a five-tool player in the field, he means more to the organization. His hot start in Bradenton could earn him a promotion very soon.

To begin his career, Griffin is batting .315 with seven home runs and 17 stolen bases. He also adds an .885 OPS and a wRC+ of 140. One issue that is standing out is a 27.4% strikeout rate and a low 3.7% walk rate. He evidently has all the tools to be successful, but if he continues to strike out at a high rate, that could make his development very slow.

Griffin means so much to the organization, even after just 35 games played. His talent is incredible, and the upside he brings is superstar material. The Pirates are very lucky to have landed him in the 2024 draft.

1. Paul Skenes

To conclude this list is Paul Skenes, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Even while he is no longer a prospect, he is still very young and obviously the most valuable player in Pittsburgh. All this trade talk about him has been shut down by Ben Cherington. Now, let's see if the Pirates can back up all their talk and build a team around him that can compete. He is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of pitcher to this organization, and if they cannot get him to the playoffs, then it would be a complete wasted opportunity.

To begin 2025, Skenes has continued to dominate, but the offense has not given him much help, resulting in five losses. Nonetheless, he has kept the team in games with a strong 2.44 ERA with a 2.74 FIP and an 8.90 K/9. Opponents are batting .190 against him and his walk rate is down to 6.6% to create a 0.94 WHIP.

The Pirates are set up with one of the strongest rotations in baseabll, courtesy of Skenes headlining it. At the moment he is cheap, but the Pirates won't have him like that for long. It is very unlikely that they can retain him, given how much he'll cost when he hits free agency, so they must get to the postseason while they have him at some point.