Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Giants in on Andrew McCutchen

As many have expected, the rumors regarding Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen have finally started.  The San Francisco Giants appear to be the first team to be showing interest.

Throughout the offseason last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates main rumors surrounded star center fielder Andrew McCutchen.  Many expected him to be traded to the Washington Nationals.  However, rumors started to die down when the Nationals traded for then White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton.  Some teams still called on Cutch, including the Yankees and the Dodgers.  None of those teams made serious offers, however, and the Pittsburgh Pirates went forward into the season hoping the former all-star would rebound.

The Pittsburgh Pirates bet right.  Andrew McCutchen had a solid season once again and looked more like himself than he did in the year prior.  Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell under .500 for the second season in a row.  So the speculation started back up that Andrew McCutchen could be dealt.  This seemed especially true with him entering the final year of his relatively team friendly contract. So it seemed only a matter of time until the first rumor came out.

Yesterday, Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported that the San Francisco Giants have remained in contact with the Pittsburgh Pirates regarding Andrew McCutchen.  Morosi goes on with his tweet explaining that Cutch would be an alternative if the Giants are not able to make a deal for Stanton. Here is the exact the quote from Morosi:

It makes sense.  Earlier this offseason we speculated that the Giants could be a match.  Last season they had one of their worst seasons in a long time with a large payroll.  It is likely for the Giants to once again try to produce a playoff caliber team next year instead of rebuild.  Meanwhile, they had Gorkys Hernandez in left field last season and in center fielder have Denard Span.  So it makes sense that the Giants would be in the outfield market.  Cutch’s contract is considered team friendly, which would also be attractive to the Giants, who have many large contracts on the books.

Next: Twins Interested in Cole

The issue might be the return.  The Giants have a few MLB players that they could dangle in trades.  However, at the same time, if the Giants are looking to get back into the playoffs it might be difficult for them to part with MLB players.  When you then look at their minor league system, you find one of the worst in baseball.  They do have some interesting prospects in Heliot Ramos, Chris Shaw, Tyler Beede, and Christian Arroyo, their current top four ranked by Baseball America.  Then again, dealing any of those players would really put their farm system in a bad spot.  It will be interesting to see how it will play out.  Expect Cutch rumors to really get going once the Stanton trade is finalized.