The contract reason Konnor Griffin isn't starting the season with the Pirates but in the minor leagues

The contract reason Konnor Griffin isn't starting the season with the Pirates but in the minor leagues originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . At the end of the day, the pros outweighed the cons for sending Konnor Griffin down to Triple-A for the Pittsburgh Pirates .

Griffin had a case to be on the Opening Day roster, but instead, he'll begin the 2026 campaign in the minor leagues. It's not likely that he'll be down there for very long. But even if it's a stint of only a few weeks, it could make a massive difference.

His contract future might be the largest reason that the Pirates would do this, writes The Athletic's Jim Bowden, a former MLB GM. "It gives them a chance to secure an extra year of control which for a small market team like PGH is huge," Bowden wrote Saturday on X . MORE: Big Papi's son has a special moment for the Red Sox While the rule specifics on this have changed over time, this is a similar concept that has been used over the past couple decades to try and keep young players around for a longer time.

The basic principle is this: Once a player arrives in the major leagues, his team has six years of club control of the player. But depending on when the player arrives, the clock starts ticking at a different time. For a season to count as a year of service time, a player needs to spend 172 days in the major leagues.