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The Pirates don’t want prospects for Andrew McCutchen
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the Pirates rejecting McCutchen trade offers, Jose Bautista’s free agent market, and the real reason MLB changed its hazing policy.
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
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The Pirates want to trade Andrew McCutchen, as he’s owed $14 million in 2017 with a $1 million buyout on his $14.75 million 2018 option. Those sound like reasonable terms for McCutchen — more than reasonable, really, given how contract dollars keep going up and up — but for one thing: Cutch has potentially started to see his decline, and it hit hard. The advanced metrics suggest his defensive skill in center has dropped precipitously, and that’s come at the same time that his bat has been less effective as well. Unless this was all a strange blip, McCutchen has gone from an MVP-caliber player in his late-to-mid-20s to looking like a league-average left fielder by the time he hit 30.
So, the Pirates might find it a bit difficult to deal him, given that and their asking price. Pittsburgh could take prospects far from the majors in order to boost their farm system while taking some of the sting off the chance McCutchen doesn’t rebound for whomever acquires him, but they won’t. According to Jon Heyman, they’ve already rejected a deal with “nice offer” of prospects, citing their desire for near-ready or big-league ready talent in exchange for McCutchen. They don’t want to rebuild: They want to continue to compete with this core, only they don’t want Cutch’s paychecks or decline dragging them down.
The offer the Pirates are looking for might not exist. Many teams have already filled their outfield holes, and the risk that McCutchen will either repeat 2016 or slip further isn’t easy to ignore when the asking price is someone — or someones — who could help your team right now. We’ll see, though; things could change as spring training gets going, since teams suffer injuries that destroy plans before they can even be enacted. Someone could be desperate enough by then to trade a young pitcher or an infielder, from a position with depth, in order to take a chance on McCutchen to fill an unexpected hole in March. It’s certainly feeling like the longtime Bucs outfielder is staying put, though, yeah?
- Liz Roscher wrote about the real reason that MLB banned dressing up like women from team’s hazing rituals for rookies. It’s not out of concern for anything except the bad PR that putting this out on social media brings.
- It took him 20 years, but Dan Duquette has learned the fine art of throwing shade: Check the difference in reaction to how he spoke about Roger Clemens 20 years ago this week compared to what happened with Jose Bautista a week ago.
- Speaking of Jose Bautista, Grant Brisbee thinks he’s going to have to head back to the Blue Jays, because no one else out there makes any kind of sense.
- The Astros (and others) are interested in Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy, so what kind of trade value does this duo have?
- True Blue LA collected the notes and reactions to the Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner signings, if you’re looking for something to appreciate while you wait for them to actually play baseball again.
- There’s no such thing as a small-market team, writes Beyond the Box Score, as owners choosing not to spend money isn’t the same as not having it.
- The Dodgers’ youth and cash is a terrifying prospect for the Giants, but San Francisco seems to be positioning themselves well for 2017.
- The new normal for the Angels? Contracts short on both years and dollars.
- Shakei Taylor makes the case to bring back the real Ladies’ Day to baseball stadiums: hook women fans with baseball, not patronizing sexism.
- Jeff Sullivan writes that the Angels have the most important pitcher in baseball thanks to state of Garrett Richards’ health.
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