Pittsburgh Pirates: Top Five Offseason Priorities
Trade Andrew McCutchen
The future of the Pittsburgh Pirates is highly dependent on what they do with Andrew McCutchen. He’s been the face of the franchise for the last half decade and was a consistent 6 WAR player for five straight years until his struggles in 2016. This year, he was a below-average player for the first time in his career (0.7 fWAR). He not only struggled at the plate, but was the worst rated center fielder defensively by Fangraphs. He just turned 30 years old earlier this week.
If Pirates’ fans are looking for a silver lining to his black cloud of a season, they can point to his August (.280/.391/.419, 124 wRC+) and September/October (.287/.373/.513, 136 wRC+). Over those final two months, McCutchen combined to hit .284/.381/.471, for a 131 wRC+. That’s not as good as his previous level of production, but it’s much closer to that level than his first half.
As long as last year was an aberration, McCutchen’s contract is team-friendly. He’s owed $14 million next year, with a team option at $14.5 million for 2018. Justin Upton has not been close to the player McCutchen has been the last five years and he signed a six-year, $132.75 million deal with the Tigers in January. McCutchen would get much more than two-years, $28.5 million on the open market, so he should have good trade value.
He’s also a fan favorite and a great guy who seemingly wants to stay in Pittsburgh. According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, McCutchen knows his poor 2016 hurt his chances to sign an extension. McCutchen said, “Who’s going to want to sign me for the (rest of) my career when I’ve had the year that I’ve had? No one is going to think about that. You know what they’re going to think? ‘Trade hm. Get him out of here. He doesn’t deserve (an extension).’”
Pirates’ general manager Neil Huntington is considering all options. He said, “It’s fair to say we’ll continue to explore how we get this club back into a postseason hunt. We love this core (of players), and we think we can supplement it. At the same time, if there is a significant move that gives us a better chance to get back to the postseason in 2017 and ideally ’18 and beyond, that’s something we’ll be open to.” Trading McCutchen would be that significant move to help the team in 2015 and beyond.
Of course, Pirates’ fans would hate to lose a guy with this kind of talent:
There have already been rumors of trade destinations for McCutchen. One spot mentioned is New York, to the Yankees. The return for McCutchen mentioned in that article would be three pitching prospects—Justus Sheffield, Domingo Acevedo, and James Kaprielian. Another rumor had the Seattle Mariners showing interest in McCutchen, with the idea of moving him to left field and putting him in the lineup with sluggers Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and steady third baseman Kyle Seager.
The Pirates hold the cards right now. They have not shown a willingness to sign players to long-term, high-priced contracts, but have been very good about signing young players to team-friendly deals, with McCutchen’s current contract being a good example. Prior to the 2012 season, McCutchen signed a six-year, $51.5 million contract, with two team options. That has worked out very well for Pittsburgh. They also have outfielders Starling Marte (6 years, $31M, with two team options) and Gregory Polanco (5 years, $35M, with two team options) signed to very good contracts.
It would look like a step back to Pittsburgh fans, but I’m in favor of trading McCutchen. It doesn’t have to happen this offseason, though. McCutchen could build up more value with a good start to 2017 and be a prime trade piece at next year’s trade deadline. Unless they are offered a bevy of good prospects this offseason, I would suggest the Pirates keep him to start the year, then look to move him at the deadline
In the meantime, young outfielder Austin Meadows could get more playing time in Triple-A. Meadows will be 22 years old next year and was the Pirates number two prospect prior to this season. He hit a very impressive .311/.365/.611 in 45 games in Double-A last year, but struggled a bit in Triple-A, where he hit .214/.297/.460 in 37 games. He’s the heir apparent to McCutchen.