Pirates send early warning shot to Cubs with Konnor Griffin decision

The Pittsburgh Pirates are sending an early message to the Chicago Cubs and the rest of the National League Central. The Pirates are promoting top prospect Konnor Griffin ahead of their home opener on Friday, marking a continuation of the added level of urgency the front office has shown since the end of the 2025 season.

Konnor Griffin's promotion is a reminder that the Cubs may need to start taking the Pirates seriously.

Cubs fans shouldn't ignore what the Pirates have done since the start of the offseason. Sure, the backdrop to their actions could be that they were facing possible grievance from the MLBPA, but they traded for All-Star infielder Brandon Lowe, signed Marcell Ozuna and Ryan O'Hearn with actual money, and flirted with larger pursuits of Kyle Schwarber and Josh Naylor.

Led by Paul Skenes, the Pirates have an ascending pitching staff. The question was always going to be, do they have enough bats? The promotion of Griffin should help answer that question.

How the Pirates have handled Griffin this spring may remind Cubs fans of how Kris Bryant's promotion was handled in 2015. Bryant deserved to break camp with the Cubs during his rookie season, but the Cubs stressed he needed to, uh, work on his defense for a couple of weeks. In other words, they wanted to ensure they gained an added year of control before his service time started to accumulate.

The difference for the Pirates is that they may be on the verge of doing what the Cubs weren't able to do with Bryant. ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Pirates are deep in contract negotiations with Griffin on a new deal. One that would likely buy out his arbitration years, in addition to the first couple of years of free agency.

Griffin entered the season as the top prospect in baseball, and will take over as the Pirates' starting shortstop. He's a generational prospect, and that potential was on display during spring training when he had 4 home runs in 16 games.

On paper, even with Griffin's promotion, the Cubs are still a better team than the Pirates. Though the days of Pittsburgh being the doormat of the National League Central may be over.