AI Summary
5 min readThe KO Kid Gets Paid
The Pittsburgh Pirates just gave 19-year-old shortstop Connor Griffin a $140 million contract after he'd logged all of five days of major league service time. He's batting .167. As Ben Maller put it: "He has less than a week of service time in the big leagues. The deal is worth 140 million. That is the largest contract the pirates have ever given out."
The Griffin Gamble: Bargain or Boondoggle?
Maller framed the deal as a high-stakes poker hand played with house money that isn't really there. The Pirates are betting that Griffin becomes a top-10 or top-20 player in baseball, in which case the contract looks like "grand larceny in favor of the Pirates." But there's no middle ground. If Griffin is merely good, the Pirates bought a mystery box full of packing peanuts. If he flames out, it becomes "backwater buffoonery" — a nine-year anchor tied to a franchise that "still runs the organization like we're in the Great Depression."
The deeper problem, Maller argued, is whether fans should trust Pittsburgh's talent evaluation at all. "Isn't this the same franchise that has botched countless draft picks? The Pirates have been bad for many, many years, which means they've had top 10 picks in the draft pretty much every year. So why believe that they got this one right?"
Paul Skenes and the Quiet Distancing
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:28) **Show Open & Lead Story Preview** - Ben Maller sets up the hour's big topics: Connor Griffin's $140 million Pirates deal, Paul Skenes' "face of the franchise" comment, and umpires complaining about accuracy.
- 2 (03:35) **Bracket Challenge Winner & Host Standings** - Maller congratulates listener Matthew K. for winning the Fox Sports Radio bracket challenge, and notes Colin Cowherd finished as the top host.
- 3 (06:37) **Connor Griffin's $140 Million Contract: Bargain or Boondoggle?** - Maller analyzes the Pirates' decision to give 19-year-old rookie shortstop Connor Griffin a nine-year, $140 million deal after less than a week of MLB service time.
- 4 (12:57) **Should Pirates Fans Trust Their Team's Talent Evaluation?** - Maller questions whether the Pirates, a franchise with a history of botched draft picks, can be trusted to have correctly evaluated Griffin.
- 5 (13:49) **Paul Skenes' "Face of the Franchise" Comment** - Maller parses Paul Skenes' statement that Connor Griffin will be the "face of the pirates for a long time."
- 6 (16:44) **MLB Umpires Complain About Accuracy Standards** - Maller discusses umpires being upset about being judged by the new automated ball-strike challenge system.
- 7 (19:58) **ABS Challenge System Statistics** - Maller provides data on the early results of the automated ball-strike challenge system.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ben Maller talks about Konnor Griffin getting a $140 million deal from the Pirates at the age of 19, if Pirates fans should be worried about Paul Skenes calling Griffin "the face of the franchise", MLB umpires whining about being judged by accuracy, Maller to the Third Degree, and more!
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