New York Yankees: Yankees acquire Andrew McCutchen

Needing an additional bat to ensure they have themselves covered should their “Plan A” not be 100% for the playoffs, the New York Yankees acquired a very good “Plan B” Thursday night

While the New York Yankees are not worried that Aaron Judge won’t make it back to the field at all, whether he’ll be 100% when the playoffs come around has come into question recently, and on Thursday evening, the Yankees snapped up the best insurance option available, trading for Andrew McCutchen from the San Francisco Giants.

McCutchen is in his first year in San Francisco, but the last year of a long-term extension he signed as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who originally drafted McCutchen out of Florida high school in 2005 with the 11th overall selection.

McCutchen made it to the majors in 2009 with Pittsburgh, immediately making an impact, hitting .286/.365/.471 with 12 home runs and 22 stolen bases in his rookie year. He built his way up to the point of one of the game’s most impressive players, winning the National League MVP in 2013 and finishing in the top 5 four straight seasons.

After a 6-year run from 2010-2015 when McCutchen hit .299/.391/.499 and averaged 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases, he slipped off big in 2016, with a .256/.336/.430 line. He bounced back with a very good 2017, which brought trade interest when the Pirates made him available this winter, though his impending free agency hurt his return to some degree.

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With the Giants this season, it’s seemed at times like McCutchen is the only guy who hasn’t missed significant time in the lineup, plugging away for a .255/.357/.415 line with 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases.

He’ll likely play right field in lieu of Judge, but he could be a big piece to give days off around the outfield and give the Yankees the opportunity to go with an all-right-handed outfield against a tough lefty.

In return at this time, the Giants are getting infielder Abiatal Avelino and one more prospect yet to be named, and multiple reports have stated that no formal announcement on the entire deal will come until Friday. Avelino is an older prospect at 23, but he is versatile and talented with the glove and has a blend of power and speed that he hadn’t really fully tapped into until this season, flashing his power at times along the way but never in full like this season, when he’s pounded out 15 home runs and 8 triples between AA/AAA in the Yankees system while stealing 25 bases and hitting .287.

Full details will come out soon, but with the report that the deal has been finalized and is simply a formality to be announced, it looks like the New York Yankees have added arguably the top available bat in the waiver trade market to open the final day of the deadline!