Pirates trade 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen to Giants

Dealing Gerrit Cole was the first step in the Pirates’ march toward rebuilding. Finding a new home for Andrew McCutchen, the MVP center fielder who pulled the franchise back to relevance, was an obvious step two.

Pittsburgh traded the face of its franchise Monday afternoon, according to a report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The five-time All-Star will be headed west to the San Francisco Giants. In return, the team received 25-year-old reliever Kyle Crick, 22-year-old prospect Bryan Reynolds, who most recently chewed up high-A pitching in his second year as a pro, and $500,000 in international pool money.

It’s the second time Pittsburgh has sold off one of its core talents in the past three days. On Saturday, the team shipped Cole, ostensibly the team’s No. 1 starter for 2018, off to the Astros for a smattering of medium-to-good prospects. While that sent the message that a rebuild was in order, Monday’s trade of McCutchen — who’d spent his entire nine-year career in the Steel City — was a loudspeaker announcement the franchise would be selling off established assets for young players.

What this means for the Pirates: Pittsburgh hadn’t finished above .500 the past two seasons, and GM Neal Huntington decided to sink to the bottom of the pool rather than tread water in standings limbo. Moving Cole and McCutchen will just be the start. Other established veterans like Josh Harrison, Starling Marte, and Ivan Nova could be the next to go.

Marte, if he sticks around, can handle McCutchen’s duties in center field while giving the team a defensive boost — assuming he doesn’t get popped for another lengthy suspension in 2018. That could open up a full-time roster spot for top prospect Austin Meadows, who has yet to pop off at AAA Indianapolis in two stints there the past two seasons.

Reynolds is the most interesting piece of the trade for Pittsburgh. The rangy center fielder played in a pair of College World Series finals at Vanderbilt and won the school’s first men’s NCAA title as a core component of a stacked team. MLB.com had rated him San Francisco’s No. 4 prospect after a promising year in A+ ball where he batted .312 and posted an .826 OPS in 121 games. He’s still got a ways to go, but the former second-round pick is a dynamic athlete with a track record of performing in the clutch.

Crick, a former first-round pick in 2011, posted a 3.06 ERA and 1.21 WHiP in 30 appearances for the Giants last summer. He spent last year as a reliever in both the majors and in AAA ball, which may set the course for his future with the club.

What this means for the Giants: San Francisco will get at least one year of a player who appears to be on the downside of an epic career. McCutchen has slowed down both with his bat and in the field in recent years, devolving into a below-average center fielder in the process, but remaining capable at the plate. He bounced back from a slow start to post a 28-homer season in 2017 with an .849 OPS that was a little bit better than his first All-Star season with the Buccos.

He’ll join a San Francisco lineup in need of an offensive punch. Brandon Belt led the team in home runs with a paltry 18 last summer. Moving their new acquisition into left field could give the Giants a lineup that features heady veterans McCutchen and Hunter Pence at the corner outfield spots. It won’t come cheaply, however — adding the veteran’s $14.5 million contract for 2018 to the mix will give San Fran nearly $190 million in total payroll for the upcoming season. That’s more than any team but the Red Sox.