The Pittsburgh Pirates have reportedly traded outfielder Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants. The trade was reported by Ken Rosenthal Monday afternoon on Twitter. McCutchen has been the centerpiece for the Pirates since 2009, but now he will have a new home in San Francisco as they try to redeem their 98-loss season in 2017.
The Pirates, who have already sold off Gerrit Cole to the Astros, seem to be looking at major sell mode. They had a run of winning season from 2013-2015, but have fallen off the past two seasons despite having a lot of young positional talent.
The question remains is what, if any, other assets will be traded off by Pittsburgh.
#SFGiants have agreed to acquire Andrew McCutchen from the #Pirates, pending a review of medical records, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 15, 2018
McCutchen in the Bay Area
The 2013 Nl Mvp has had an interesting last few seasons. From 2011-2015 he was one of the premier players in the National League. During that span he was an All-Star every season, slashing a total of .302/.396/.509 with a .905 OPS, 123 home runs. He also won a Gold Glove and four Silver Sluggers. He was a full package guy playing on several postseason teams.
Then 2016 he had an odd down year as he slashed .256/.336/.488 with 24 home runs in 153 games.
Overall not terrible, but low for McCutchen Standards. Then last year he started off extremely slow and was moved to right field. He eventually had a big second half and eventually brought his season stats to a .279/.363/.486 slash with 28 home runs in 156 games.
He is currently 31 years old, and a change of scenery may do some good for him.
Though AT&T Park is not the most hitter-friendly park, he can still be productive in the bay. The Giants have already traded for veteran Evan Longoria to take over at third base, so they are stacking up with veterans. It will be a tough race for the Giants in 2018, considering they have the Dodgers, Rockies, and Diamondbacks to deal with in their division.
It will be interesting to see if they go after J.D. Martinez as well.
Pirates future
There will be a lot of discussion regarding the future of the Pirates. A lot will ride on what they get back in the deal, but also what other moves they make. They still have valuable pieces like Josh Bell, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Harrison and Adam Frazier. Some of these guys are still really young, and the Pirates may want to keep them. Veterans like Francisco Cervelli and Harrison may be dealt as they build around their young guys.
Either way, Pirates fans say goodbye to honestly their best players since Barry Bonds. After nine years with the Pirates, he is going to dawn a Giants jersey in 2018.
