2017 could represents Andrew McCutchen’s final season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Will he go out with a bang or will last season’s perceived decline continue?
I certainly don’t want to speak for Andrew McCutchen, but this offseason has to rank as the most confusing and weirdest of his career. The Pirates missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013 and the team made it very well known that McCutchen was available for the right price. It was even reported that the team was prepared to send him to Washington at last year’s trade deadline, but the Nationals bulked at what Pirates wanted in return for the star center fielder.
2017 is the last year of McCutchen’s contract before the team has to decide if they will exercise the $14.75 million option they hold on him (spoiler: they won’t). Here are a few points of interest to watch in McCutchen’s swan song with the team that drafted him.
Move to Right Field
McCutchen will be patrolling a new patch of grass in 2017, shifting to right field as Starling Marte takes over center field and Gregory Polanco moving to left. The Pittsburgh Pirates issued an official statement regarding their outfield alignment earlier this month with Clint Hurdle saying that “we believe this alignment will maximize our outfield production”.
It was always expected that at some point down the road McCutchen would be replaced in center field, but perhaps 2016 accelerated the decision. Per Fangraphs, McCutchen had a -28 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) last years. That was the worst among all qualified defensive performances last year at any position. His UZR of -18.7 was the second worst in the league (shortstop Alexei Ramirez ended the season at -19.6). So clearly the team hopes to hide his defensive deficiencies in right field.
It will be interesting to see how teams challenge McCutchen at his new position. He’ll be tasked with making the long throw to third base, so teams may be more liberal with their decisions when running from first to third. However, the team obviously has done their homework and feel that it was time to shift McCutchen out of center and start a new chapter in his career.
Return to 3rd in the lineup
Before the 2016 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided that McCutchen would move out of his usual third spot in the lineup and move up to second. The idea behind this move was that McCutchen would now have more at-bats over the course of the season, and being one of the best players in the league, this move made sense. However, sometimes ideas on paper are better then when they are executed on the field.
While in the two hole, McCutchen slashed .237/.317/.402 in 249 at-bats. After he was moved back to his usual third spot in the lineup, he went .268/.349./450 in 347 at-bats. Baseball players are creatures of habit, so perhaps he’ll see an increase in offensive production now that he’ll be residing in his usual third position in the batting order.
Bounce back from “poor” 2016
If I told you that your favorite team (which is probably the Pittsburgh Pirates since you are reading this, so maybe this exercise won’t make sense but just humor me ok?) could have an outfielder that his .256/.336/.430 with 24 home runs and 79 RBIs, you would take that production, right? Other than the fact that the slash line is a little below what you would want (but not terrible), you would gladly have that player occupy a spot on your team.
That slash line above was McCutchen’s in 2016 and in general it was considered that he had a poor season for the Pirates. But maybe it was perceived as a bad season because of all of the outstanding seasons he had in the years before. Granted his strikeouts increased while his walks decreased, but he still showed that he has something left in the bat heading into 2017.
Maybe I am being overly optimistic and perhaps the decline that we saw last season is indeed real. But I feel that he deserves one last push for a championship with the only team he has ever known. Which brings me to my fourth and final point…
Realistically, his last season with the team, maybe sooner?
Let’s get one thing right.
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the right decision to hold on to McCutchenthrough the offseason.
He is too talented of a player to give up on that easily, especially since it appears Neal Huntington never received an offer that came close to being considered. The team is in a good place right now, not unlike the situation the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in with Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray. They have two goalies, the younger and cheaper Murray, and the older and more expensive Fleury. The team will most likely trade Fleury as soon as they find a trade partner that can offer a decent return.
Sorry I’ll get back on track now!
Austin Meadows, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, is knocking on the door. But the Pirates find themselves in a great position, at least to start the season. They have a talented prospect ready to take over for another talented player entering a new stage in his career.
With his expensive club option more than likely not planned to be exercised, McCutchen is almost assuredly in his final season with the Pirates. While I like many fans would like to see him play all of 2017 with the club, there are a few scenarios that could lead to McCutchen being traded this summer.
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If for whatever reason the Pirates take an even larger step backwards this summer, it would make sense for the team to dangle McCutchen when the trade market heats up in the middle of the summer. The trade deadline typically sees teams more willing to pay a substantial price for a player that could be the final piece in a serious postseason push compared to the offseason. So if a team is willing to give up what the Pirates want at the time, it’s easy to see them trading him.
Another scenario is if Meadows is absolutely tearing about Triple-A pitching and the team cannot justify keeping him in the minors any longer. Sure, the best scenario would be to have both on the team, but that is not realistic. There are only so many innings and a prospect like Meadows is not brought up as a guy to give other players a day off here and there or to act as a late inning replacement.
It’s been a long time since fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates were in a situation like this. It has been years since a player bonded so well with the city, so it will no doubt be a hard pill to swallow when the day comes that McCutchen takes his position in the outfield at PNC Park wearing a different uniform. Many can only hope that everything breaks the right way, McCutchen bounces back and he gets to play meaningful baseball well into October.
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