Pirates insider speculates team could trade fan favorite (then reunite in offseason)

Talk about a trade deadline shakeup. Out of nowhere, Pirates insider Kevin Gorman of TribLIVE stated on 93.7 The Fan that sources indicated to him that the only untouchable in Pittsburgh is now Paul Skenes. For a while, that untouchable list included Andrew McCutchen and Oneil Cruz. A couple of weeks ago, Cruz was excluded from a list that MLB insider Jon Heyman launched. Now, all of a sudden, the face of the franchise is reportedly being listened on.

Gorman doesn't expect McCutchen to have any desire to leave, but keeping him is not quite an automatic assumption, from what he hears. The idea is for McCutchen to chase a ring in 2025, then return in 2026.

If you can get some value out of the former MVP, why not try it? A move like this would definitely sting the fanbase, no doubt about it. Yet, if he comes back next year and Pittsburgh can get a prospect out of it, what harm is that really doing to this franchise? Let the Pirates legend chase a ring. After all, the 38-year-old has limited playoff exposure in his career, and impressive postseason numbers could make a massive impact on his case for the Hall of Fame.

Pirates insider throws out wild Andrew McCutchen rumor

As interesting as this topic sounds, it is extremely hard to see Bob Nutting allowing this trade to go through. In 2023, he vetoed a trade involving David Bednar. He was easily one of the most valuable assets to the team, and having dominant closer on a sub-.500 team is not always worth it. The likely reason that Nutting prevented him from getting dealt was that Bednar was from Pittsburgh and helped sell tickets.

This situation is slightly different, as Bednar was 28 at the time with 3.5 years of control left. McCutchen is now 38 and a rental who is only able to slot in at designated hitter. In fact, McCutchen's age is beginning to show with a 99 wRC+ and .713 OPS. The only time in his career where those numbers were lower was in 2022 with the Brewers.

The end of McCutchen's career is sadly around the corner. Him returning to Pittsburgh in 2023 was absolutely electric, and he has still been one of the Pirates' top bats in the lineup. Now that the Pirates are reportedly listening on him, maybe it would be the right thing to let him chase a ring. He doesn't have one yet and, after all, the team could just re-sign him after the season is over. Why not get a prospect out of him? The team just got swept by the White Sox to fall to 22 games back of .500. Let the man play some winning baseball before it's over.