The Pittsburgh Pirates are no strangers to making deals and shipping out big name players in the past, but who on this 2026 team should be deemed untouchable during trade talks this year ?
A lot of people will say Paul Skenes, and it’s hard to disagree with that, he is the reigning NL CY young winner. He is also widely considered one of the best pitchers in the league and he is only going into his third season.
I don’t want the Pirates to trade Skenes any time soon and honestly, I would deem him as untouchable as well, but the better he plays, the more expensive he is going to be when he eventually enters free agency. He is a great pitcher, but he is also the archetype of someone that we have seen Pittsburgh move on from fast, just look at the Gerrit Cole situation.
In my opinion, Konnor Griffin would be the untouchable player for the Bucs going into this season.
Griffin was taken ninth overall in the 2024 draft, and at this point, he is considered the Pirates top prospect. The reason why I think the young shortstop should be untouchable is because of the raw potential he has. He was taken that high in the draft to be the future and new face of this franchise.
The Pirates have really good pitching, and that was the case last year too, but the hitting struggled. Griffin could be the guy you build around and he is a strong defender with some underrated power in his bat. Griffin is ranked as the top prospect in the organization and he hit very well in the minors, with people already saying he is the best player out of that 2024 draft.
Depending on how the season is going in July Pittsburgh could move on from some veteran players to continue to build for the future. They could trade away Marcell Ozuna or even players like Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz but if you are the Pirates you gotta keep those young guys especially Konnor Griffin.
Tell us in the comments who on this team should be deemed untouchable during trade talks.