Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Andrew McCutchen Reunion

The Pittsburgh Pirates could have the potential opportunity to reunite with one of their former stars in Andrew McCutchen this winter.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of outfield prospects coming up the farm system, but most won’t be immediate help next season. Sure, they’ll come up throughout the season, but the starting outfield currently projects with a mixture of Bryan Reynolds, Anthony Alford, and Ben Gamel.

Now the Pittsburgh Pirates could remedy this so they don’t have to rush any of their major prospects. Kody Duncan recently covered three potential outfield prospects the Pirates could target. But there’s another player that could become a free agent this off-season. You’re probably more than familiar with him because that player is Andrew McCutchen.

Cutch needs no introduction here. He’s one of the greatest Pirates of all-time. He had an outstanding run with the Pirates from 2009 to 2017 and then was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bryan Reynolds and Kyle Crick. 2018, in which he split with the Giants and New York Yankees, McCutchen signed a three-year deal including a team option for a fourth year with the Philadelphia Phillies.

But it’s not a guarantee the Phillies pick up Cutch’s option. It’s quite likey they buy him out for $3 million instead instead of picking up his $15 million option. Cutch posted solid offensive numbers this season. Through 574 plate appearances, he batted .222/.334/.444 with 27 home runs, a .335 wOBA, and 107 wRC+. The former MVP showed a ton of pop with a .222 ISO and the most home runs he has hit since his last season with the Bucs.

Plus, he walked at an outstanding 14.1% rate. Despite being in his mid-30’s (35), he’s still an outstanding base runner. He was in the top 89th percentile of sprint speed and was worth 1.5 baserunning runs above average. There are also some underlying numbers to suggest that he could have been better. For one, he had a .340 xwOBA and a career-low .242 batting average on balls in play.

But there is reason to believe that the Phils choose to pay him $3 million instead. Cutch was a horrid defender this year. He manned solely leftfield this year where he had -8 DRS, a -11.6 UZR/150, and -4 outs above average. Baseball Savant pinned his outfield jump in the bottom 35th percentile. He also had massive platoon splits. While he had a phenomenal 168 wRC+ vs southpaws, that fell nearly 100%, all the way to 76 wRC+ against same-handed pitching. He also posted his worst career strikeout rate at 23%. Overall, he had a sub-2 bWAR (1.4) and fWAR (1.2).

So why should the Pittsburgh Pirates look into McCutchen? Well besides the leadership he’d bring to a young team, as well as a solid stopgap for the youngsters, he’d provide a very solid LF/DH option who could platoon with some of the Pirates’ current options at the two positions. Ben Gamel for example only hit .242/.282/.347 with a 69 wRC+ against lefties. But against right-handers, he had a quality .260/.378/.420 line and 118 wRC+. Colin Moran’s splits have long been documented and they continued this year. Moran hit southpaws for a .171/.284/.268 line and 58 wRC+. Against righties? A .288/.352/.432 line and 113 wRC+.

He’d also provide the team with a good, clutch power bat. Cutch still came through when it mattered the most. He had a 143 wRC+ and .975 OPS in high leverage situations. With runners in scoring position, he hit for a 136 wRC+ and .915 OPS. It’s the 6th time in his career that he had an OPS above .900 with RISP and the 5th time in high leverage moments. The Pirates could also use the power as they were last in total home runs, isolated slugging, and slugging percentage.

The cost for him may not be all that high. At the very most, I could see him going for $12 million. Along with his $3 million buyout, he’d get paid the same as to if the Phils picked up his option, $15 million in 2022. At the very least, he may only cost $8 million ($12 million in total in 2022 after adding in his option). That’s very reasonable for a .250/.370/.450 hitter who has 25 home run pop.

Now he may not man his former position, that being centerfield. After all, he isn’t going to push either Reynolds or Travis Swaggerty, the Pirates’ best two options for the position long term, out of center field. But Cutch is still a good hitter. He may not be the fielder he once was, but the Pirates can hide his defense by splitting his time at DH next season. He could provide a quality option at two positions the Pirates need help at.