"Any concerns about the health of Major League Baseball's 2025-26 free agent market vanished at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas last week. With the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement barely a year away and an extended lockout potentially crippling the sport in 2027, teams made it clear they are forging ahead without allowing the uncertainty of the future to derail the present."
"The most exciting: The Pirates are strongly considering giving 19-year-old Konnor Griffin, the consensus minor league player of the year in 2025, the opportunity to win their big league shortstop job, sources told ESPN. While the idea is by no means decided, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Griffin wowed scouts by hitting .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases in his first professional season after going to Pittsburgh with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft."
"The decision is complicated. The last teenage position player to debut in the big leagues was Juan Soto in 2018. A talent of Griffin's caliber shouldn't be rushed because a team wants to win now. And the concerns over the new basic agreement are particularly acute for a team such as Pittsburgh: If the doomsday scenario occurs and 2027 is lost, players will recoup lost service time."
General managers conveyed confidence in the 2025-26 free agent market despite a collective bargaining agreement that expires in about a year and the threat of an extended 2027 lockout. The Pittsburgh Pirates are strongly considering giving 19-year-old Konnor Griffin a chance to win the big league shortstop job after he hit .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases in his first professional season. Scouts and internal models project elite upside, but the club must weigh service-time implications and the risk of rule changes that could shorten the path to free agency. The offseason market should accelerate after Thanksgiving.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]