Cards
Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin headlines 2026 MLB prospects, rookie cards to chase
Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates were armed with one of the game’s top prospects in Paul Skenes.
The overpowering pitcher quickly proved he’s the real deal on the big stage.
The Pirates seemed to have hit another home run within their farm system, producing the No. 1 overall prospect heading into this season: Konnor Griffin.
Griffin—who turns 20 at the end of April—is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound shortstop/outfielder with strong skills at the plate and an exceptional defender. Garnering comparisons with some of the game’s best players over the past two decades, Griffin is dubbed as the next young superstar in the majors.
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Griffin, who will start the 2026 season in the minors, could be the next crucial puzzle piece for the Pirates in their quest to return to relevance. They are so confident in Griffin they were reportedly in talks with him on a long-term contract prior to his MLB debut.
“Konnor is just an elite player,” said prospects guru and Onyx Authenticated, Inc. President Lance Fischer. “You hate to do comparisons because I really think every player is kind of their own person, but he’s got the speed of a Mike Trout, he’s got the hitting ability, he’s got the power. He’s got a lot of those attributes that Trout had, and he could make that type of impact for a team.”
The Pirates are stocked with four of the top 50 prospects on MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects List compiled heading into this season.
“With the Pirates already having Paul Skenes, bring in a Konnor Griffin and a Bubba Chandler and some of these other young guys that the Pirates have, all of a sudden, you’ve got a team that can be a contender,” Fischer said. “I don’t know if they’re going to be at the level of the Dodgers, because the Dodgers seem like they’ve got this endless supply of money. But at the same time, I’ve always been a true believer that if you build a team from within, that team is going to jell a lot better than bringing in a bunch of free agents.”
MLB Pipeline/MLB.com senior writer Jim Callis is extremely high on Griffin. The Minor League Player of the Year in 2025 hit .333 with 21 home runs, 94 runs batted in and 65 stolen bases across three levels in the Pirates’ system.
“I think he’s No. 1 on everybody’s list. He had the best tools in the 2024 draft,” Callis said. “It’s kind of funny, there were a lot of teams at the top of the draft that questioned his swing and questioned if he could hit in pro ball to the point where they weren’t going to draft him. He went ninth overall in the draft. There’s some risk when you take a high school kid. Your track record for high school position players is not great. The only team above the Pirates that considered taking Konnor Griffin at all was the White Sox. There were teams ahead of the Pirates that flat out said, we don’t think his swing’s going to work.”
Since Griffin plays for an organization such as the Pirates, which haven’t played in the postseason in a decade, collectors get skeptical about picking up his cards. But Fischer believes Griffin is safe bet to be a difference maker at the MLB level.
“Because he’s on Pittsburgh, I think people get a little bit spooked, same thing about Paul Skenes,” Fischer said. “When Pittsburgh took Paul, it was kind of like, ‘Ah, it’s Pittsburgh, he’s a pitcher.’ So, everybody gravitated towards Dylan Crews. Now, Paul is one of the biggest names that collectors are looking for.
“I think Konnor kind of falls in a similar pattern where I don’t think that the demand is where it will be at the All-Star break this year. I think you’re going to see this kid break camp after spring training, and I just think he’s going to do some special stuff. Once these guys start taking off, especially rookies, the demand goes through the roof. And if he really does start to put together a season that Mike Trout did in the past or some of these other guys, then the demand for him is going to be insane.”
Prior to spring training, the demand for Griffin was rampant. Griffin’s 1st Bowman Chrome card was released in the 2024 Bowman Draft product. His numbered, colored autographed cards are fetching top dollar.
A 2024 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects Auto Red X-Fractor /5 in a PSA 10 sold on eBay for $22,435 in mid-January. Just two weeks earlier, a 2024 Bowman Draft Chrome Sapphire Edition Prospects Auto Orange Refractor /25 in a PSA 10 went on eBay for $9,300. In early February, an ungraded 2024 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects Auto Orange Refractor /25 sold through an eBay auction for an eye-popping $13,625. By mid-February, an unnumbered Griffin 2024 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects Auto in a PSA 10 went for $1,700.
“If you don’t have Griffin’s cards now, you might have a few weeks to get him until it starts going up,” Fischer said in early February. “Once spring training at least starts, people start getting back into baseball cards and they start looking at the prospects. Of course, with Konnor being No. 1, the demand is going to start driving up the price. People need to jump on these guys before the prices start jumping up. If Konnor does what I think he’s going to do, he’s going to become unaffordable very quickly.”
Scott Allen, owner of South Bay Baseball Cards in Lomita, Calif., heads up and down the West Coast prior to baseball season to pick up cards of prospects that will sell well at his shop. Allen is seeing plenty of interest in Griffin cards.
“I think they might have softened a little bit in the offseason, but I thought I saw some strength in buying as well, so prices kind of rebounded a little bit,” Allen said. “It’s almost like playing the stock market, if you look at Google one day and it’s 340 and then it’s down to 314. So, you buy a few more and then five minutes later it’s back up to 330 again.”
Entering the season, does Allen think Griffin cards are still affordable for collectors?
“Everybody’s got a different benchmark for what their affordability is,” Allen said. “Are there some cards that are super affordable to the kids and the adults that are middle class? Absolutely. Are there higher end cards? As we know, collectors are not shy on buying Gold refractors and Red refractors and grading them and spending $5, $10, $20, $50K on a card, thinking that if the guy pops it’s going to be $50, $100, $200K. We’ve seen a lot of that performance in the market over the last four, five years.”
FOUR MORE TO KNOW
The No. 2-rated prospect on MLB’s Top 100 is Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle.
He’s considered by Callis as the best hitter in the minor leagues. Last season, McGonigle hit .305 with 19 home runs, 80 RBI and 59 walks. He had an on-base percentage of .408.
“I saw a lot of him in the Arizona Fall League,” Callis said. “I don’t know, maybe it’s a lazy comp, but his favorite player growing up was Chase Utley. He reminds me a lot of Chase Utley. I think he probably ends up at second base in the long run, we’ll see.
“His hitting ability is going to stand out more than anything. This guy could be a future batting champion, but he’s not a Luis Arráez,” Callis said. “We’re talking 20, 25 homers, a ton of walks.”
McGonigle made the Tigers Opening Day roster. Callis heard someone compare him to a left-handed hitting Alex Bregman. With his strong minor league and Arizona Fall League seasons, McGonigle moved past future teammate Max Clark on the Top 100 list. Clark, who was a high first-round pick in 2023, was a top five prospect last season but has slipped to No. 10.
“Kevin’s a really unique prospect. He’s got power, but his hitting tool is crazy,” said Fischer, who will be having a dual autograph card of Griffin and McGonigle in one of Onyx’s upcoming releases. “The gap between him and Griffin isn’t massive, but there’s definitely a gap there.”
McGonigle’s cards haven’t shot up nearly as high as Griffin’s. An ungraded 2025 Bowman Chrome Sapphire Edition Prospects Auto Red Refractor /5 sold on eBay for $10,000 in mid-November 2025. Fast forward to early February of this year and a McGonigle 2025 Bowman Chrome Sapphire Edition Prospects Auto Orange Refractor /25 in a PSA 9 sold in an eBay auction for $2,275. Also in early February, an unnumbered McGonigle Bowman Chrome Prospects Auto in a PSA 10 went for $799.99.
Fischer believes McGonigle has what it takes to win American League Rookie of the Year.
“A lot of people are leaning towards Trey Yesavage because of what he did in the playoffs and the World Series, but Kevin’s good. Kevin’s really good,” Fischer said.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospect and No. 3 overall is teenager Jesús Made. The switch-hitting shortstop advanced to Double-A by the end of last season at just 18 years old.
“He’s kind of on that Jackson Chourio train,” Callis said. “He can kind of do it all. He’s a shortstop who I think is going to stay there. … He’s a legit shortstop who can really hit, has a ton of power, can run.”
In 115 games spread out over three levels last year, Made hit .285 with a .379 on-base percentage, drove in 61 runs and stole 47 bases. The Dominican product is capable of being a 25 home run, 25 stolen base player or even higher as a middle infielder, noted Callis.
“It’s pretty funny, he’s so talented that in a lot of years Jesús Made would be a pretty good choice to be the No. 1 prospect in baseball,” Callis said. “It’s just there’s two super talented guys just slightly ahead of him.”
When Made’s first official MLB cards were released in 2025 Bowman Chrome, his prices were on the high side. An ungraded 2025 Bowman Chrome Sapphire Edition Auto Black Refractor /10 sold via eBay auction for $2,805 in mid-November. In early February, a Made 2025 Bowman Chrome Auto Yellow Refractor /75 in a PSA 10 went for $1,910. In mid-February, a Made 2025 Bowman Chrome Prospects Auto graded PSA Authentic with a 10 auto went for $400.
“He’s got a lot of hype around him, but he’s also got a lot of talent,” Fischer said. “He’s a young kid, only 18. It will be interesting to see how he does this year. A lot of guys sometimes with the hype, they tend to let that get to their head, and baseball’s very mental. A lot of these guys have skills or they wouldn’t be a pro. But the mental piece is such a big thing and sometimes these guys let the expectations get to them and all of a sudden, they’re struggling.”
Coming in at No. 4 is A’s shortstop Leo De Vries. The top international player in the 2024 class, De Vries was a key cog in a blockbuster trade last year where he was sent from the San Diego Padres to the A’s.
De Vries, still just 19 years old, has all the tools to become a star.
“He’s got really good power, he can hit,” Callis said. “He’s performed despite being the youngest player in his league and levels. Very, very similar to Made.”
De Vries’ first professional cards appear in the 2024 Bowman products. His 2024 Bowman Chrome Prospects Auto Red Wave Refractor /5 graded PSA 9 for the card and 10 for the auto sold through eBay at the end of January for $8,000. His base autographs from 2024 Bowman Chrome in a PSA 10 can be purchased for around $450.
St. Louis Cardinals JJ Wetherholt is the fifth-ranked prospect in all of baseball. Callis considers him the second-best hitter in the minors behind McGonigle. But at 23 years old, Wetherholt is a couple years older than the prospects above him.
“The big difference between them is Wetherholt came out of college and McGonigle came out of high school,” Callis said. “But they are extremely similar players—very, very talented.”
The Cardinals seemed to have made room at the big-league level for Wetherholt in the offseason by trading infielders Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. Wetherholt could move to second base with Masyn Winn already cemented at shortstop.
When Wetherholt’s first cards came out in the 2025 Bowman release, prospectors were ready to pounce. At the end of November, his 2025 Bowman Chrome Prospects Auto Black Refractor /10 in a PSA 10 case sold through a PSA auction for $8,600. His base autographs from that product in a PSA 10 slab were going for around $600 in mid-February.
Fischer believes the top five prospects are all solid, but there’s definitely separation at the top.
“I think you’ve got Konnor, a little bit of a gap, and then you’ve got Kevin, and then I think you’ve got another gap where you start getting into Jesus Made, Leo De Vries and JJ Wetherholt and some of these other guys,” Fischer said.
All five of the top prospects were drafted as shortstops. Of the top 24 players on the Top 100 Prospects List, 11 are middle infielders.
“I think shortstop is always a prospects position, but it is more striking than usual,” Callis said. “Some of those guys will move off shortstop, either because they’re average defenders and you want a better defender there or maybe there’s a better defender on their team. But if you look at last year’s, I think there were a dozen of the top 30 or so picks were announced as shortstops. This year’s draft, the first four guys on our Top 100 prospects list were shortstop, shortstop, shortstop, shortstop. Obviously, that’s usually where the best athlete on a team plays, especially at the amateur level. But there are a lot of really outstanding shortstops.”
SLEEPERS
Andrew Fischer was the Milwaukee Brewers’ first-round pick in 2025. The University of Tennessee product has good power and can hit, Fischer said. He doesn’t have any officially licensed cards yet.
During his road trips in California, Allen has been picking colored, numbered autos of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Dylan Beavers. A first-round draft pick in 2022, Beavers is a local product for Allen, coming out of San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“I like him a lot. Good talent and had a good year,” Allen said. “I expect a good year out of him this year as well.”
Watching the World Series last season, Allen—who is a Dodgers fan—got a first-hand look at the potential of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage. The No. 12-ranked prospect will get a chance to show his stuff the entire season for the Blue Jays.
Even after Skenes has shown what pitchers can do in the hobby, collectors still have a stigma about collecting players from that position.
“It’s a lot tougher for collectors to stomach spending some of those big dollars on pitchers due to injury, I think,” Allen said. “A pitcher can start off and have a great year or two and you see a spike in their stuff and then it settles pretty quick. You look at Skenes, who is a great pitcher. His stuff kind of popped a year or two ago and we’ll have to see what he puts up. If a pitcher has a solid April, I think you can see prospects come in and drive their prices up by 50 or 100% on the top end.”
Allen also has been picking up cards of San Francisco Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge, the No. 25 prospect, and Colorado Rockies first baseman/outfielder Charlie Condon, the 70th ranked prospect.
“I think Charlie’s got a lot of upside,” Allen said. “I think Eldridge might have some pop, too.”
A player on Callis’ radar just outside the top 10 is Washington Nationals shortstop Eli Willits.
The No. 1 overall pick in last July’s draft just turned 18 in December after reclassifying from the 2026 class to the ’25.
Ranked No. 13 in the Top 100 list, Willits had a nice professional debut. Callis said if Willits can become a 20-homer guy to go along with his solid defensive skills, he could be really good.
“I think the only question with him really is, how much power is he going to have?” Callis said. “He can really hit. He’s got a high baseball IQ, grew up around the game — his dad was a big leaguer and college coach at Oklahoma. He can run. He can play defense. He can do it all.”
Willits’ first licensed cards appear in 2025 Bowman Draft. Fischer advises collectors to give Willits a little bit of time to watch how he does at the highest level.
“For him, I would want to see what he’s going to do this year before I start diving in,” Fischer said. “It will be interesting to see how he does as a pro. I’m not 100% sold on what he’s going to do. Some of these guys, I think, need a little more time.
“Konnor Griffin, I’ll say the same thing about him. When he came in, I wasn’t 100% sold on what he’s going to do as a pro, because I wanted to see him play at least one season. And, you know what, he did phenomenal. Then last year he was even more ridiculous.”
There are a number of other players high on Fischer’s list of prospects to keep an eye on.
One of his favorites doesn’t appear yet in MLB.com’s Top 100 list. Toronto Blue Jays shortstop/third baseman Juan Sanchez had a great season last year in the Dominican Summer League. Fischer noted Sanchez, who is just 18, has the potential star status of Julio Rodriguez. He doesn’t have any licensed professional cards yet.
Another guy Fischer loves is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Eduardo Quintero. Ranked No. 30 on the Top 100 list, Quintero follows in a long line of Dodgers talent coming up through their farm system.
“Los Angeles seems to not only get good free agents, but their minor league system is so strong it seems like also,” Fischer said.
Quintero has his 1st Bowman cards in the 2025 products.
Another Dodger on Fischer’s radar is 19-year-old third baseman Chase Harlan. A non-top 100 player, Fischer said he’s a good kid with a good work ethic who is still looking for his first full year of playing healthy at the professional level.
“He’s another guy definitely under the radar to keep an eye,” Fischer said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders, good support system in place. He’s a Dodger, so he’s going to have that good coaching.”
Collectors looking for prospects to make an immediate splash, Fischer advises the first five players on MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects Lists are the safest bet.
“If you’re looking for the next big name, I would say Konnor Griffin is it,” Fischer said. “He’s not cheap by any means, but I would say he’s still somewhat affordable. Then Kevin McGonigle being another one and then if you want to dig a little bit deeper you look at Jesus Made, De Vries, Wetherholt and guys like that.”
