The Pittsburgh Pirates might find themselves playing the role of news-makers during the 2017 Winter Meetings. Here is your complete preview.
The Pittsburgh Pirates decision makers have touched down at the 2017 Winter Meetings, and this year’s session figures to be a busy one for the boys from Federal Street.
While the club is not expected to make any big-splash additions, they are expected to be at the center of various trade rumors. Let’s take a look at where things stand with key Pittsburgh Pirates personnel before the true madness begins:
Andrew McCutchen
Of course, the big domino for the Pittsburgh Pirates is the face of their franchise over the past few years.
Though all fans and observers expected the Pirates to listen to any and all offers on their centerfielder, a tweet from Buster Olney this morning might indicate that things are getting a bit more serious:
Andrew McCutchen vs. left-handed pitching in 2017: A 1.131 OPS, with 21 extra-base hits in 147 plate appearances. Now just one season from free agency, he's on the trade block at the winter meetings.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 11, 2017
Now, this tweet could merely be Olney reading the tea leaves, or it could be an indicator that a serious trade offer could be in the works. What we do know is that the San Francisco Giants had McCutchen on their radar should a Giancarlo Stanton trade fall through. That has come to pass, but as our Alex Stumpf noted recently, the Giants may not have the talent to get a deal done:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]There are two ways the Giants can get Cutch to the Bay. One is they find a third team to give the Pittsburgh Pirates the young talent they need while they flip a veteran or two to the middle man. The other is they eat a lot of salary of a veteran and throw in a B-list prospect or two.[/perfectpullquote]If the Pittsburgh Pirates do pull the trigger on a McCutchen trade this week, it would come on the heels of a contentious Piratesfest, which illustrated the growing disconnect between team and fan. Any McCutchen trade is going to be met with fans’ ire, and Neal Huntington and company will be under the gun to get the best return.
Josh Harrison
Marc Carig of Newsday and Bill Brink of the Post-Gazette have reported that the Mets and Blue Jays have both expressed interest in Pittsburgh Pirates’ UT Josh Harrison.
Harrison is owed $10.25 million in 2018, and though he enjoyed a fine season in 2017, the Pittsburgh Pirates can easily back-fill with in-house options and re-allocate those dollars elsewhere. We will be detailing what the Blue Jays and Mets have to offer in an upcoming post, so stay tuned.
Gerrit Cole
The Pittsburgh Pirates also hold a major trade chip in Gerrit Cole.
Cole has two years left of arbitration control, and teams would love to welcome in an affordable, accomplished arm. However, a trade for Cole will only happen if the Pirates land solely on the side of a rebuild. We’ve previously seen the Twins express an interest, which we analyzed here, and the Washington Nationals are also sniffing around.
Will the Pittsburgh Pirates ADD?
None of the preceding would prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates from adding to their 2018 club; in fact, if the team parts with one or more of those players, it will free them to make substantial additions to the club, whether it be now, in the offseason, or in the future.
To date, the only concrete players we have heard linked to the Pirates are left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno and starting pitcher Jaime Garcia.
Here now is a list of all our target profiles we have done during the hot stove season, to whet your appetite for the meetings madness:
- Would Clint Frazier look good as a Pirate?
- Should the Pittsburgh Pirates stash injured lefty Drew Smyly?
- Examining Jaime Garcia as a fit for the rotation.
- Eduardo Nunez would serve as a fantastic third baseman for Pittsburgh.
- The aforementioned Cedeno could be a solid lefty in the Pirates’ bullpen.
- MLB Trade Rumors predicted that the Pirates would sign OF Jarrod Dyson. But is he a fit?
Check back on Pirates Breakdown all week as we bring you wall-to-wall Winter Meetings coverage.
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