Why an Andrew McCutchen Reunion with the Pirates Would Make Plenty of Sense
p/c: Charles LeClaire - USA Today Sports
For the first part of the 2010’s, Andrew McCutchen became one of the most dynamic players in all of baseball.
McCutchen played an enormous role, as the face of the franchise, for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ three consecutive playoff seasons from 2013-15.
In 2013, McCutchen was the recipient of the National League MVP award - becoming only the sixth Pirates player to receive the honor. He also performed at an elite level in 2014 and 2015.
Next month will mark the five-year anniversary of the extremely unpopular trade that sent McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants in a deal that brought over Bryan Reynolds.
Since then, McCutchen has also played for the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and Milwaukee Brewers.
After coming off a so-so 2022 campaign, with the Brewers, McCutchen is back on the open market. What are the chances that he considers a return to Pittsburgh?
The strategy for Pirates general manager Ben Cherington this offseason has been to supplement some established veterans to the mix, along with the young core of players. Those veteran players to this point are Ji-Man Choi, Carlos Santana, and Austin Hedges. Perhaps McCutchen could fit that bill in terms of what the Bucs are looking for.
Over the last five seasons, McCutchen has still been a threat to lefty pitching, posting an .874 OPS vs LHP, so he would make a solid, platoon partner in the DH role, as well as being an occasional outfielder. It also wouldn’t cost much to bring McCutchen back, and from a PR standpoint, it could help out ticket sales - at least for the first half of next year. While I’m not suggesting that Andrew McCutchen coming back to the Pirates is a slam dunk, I actually could see it happening more than I don’t.