Shopping Andrew McCutchen – Good or Bad Idea?

The Pirates seem to be leaning towards shopping Andrew McCutchen this off-season. Is this a wise move for the team?

The Pirates season wasn’t even over yet when off-season storylines already started appearing. Will Jung Ho Kang play shortstop more next season, and what does that mean for Jordy Mercer? What message is the team sending to Starling Marte by placing him on the DL so late in the year? And, most importantly, is the team going to shop Andrew McCutchen this off-season, and how serious are they about moving the face of their franchise?

Moving McCutchen before his contract expires has been talked about by fans and media alike for so long now it’s almost gotten old. But now this speculation has gained major traction after Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently reported that Neal Huntington and the front office will likely shop McCutchen this off-season.

“General manager Neal Huntington likely will quietly shop the five-time All-Star during the offseason, if only to gauge the level of interest,” Biertempfel noted in the above-linked article.

Logically, this makes sense. McCutchen only has two years remaining on a six-year contract he signed back before the 2012 season, and this past season was the worst of McCutchen’s career by far. Not only did he drop off a cliff offensively, but he was the worst defensive player of any position in baseball, per defensive runs saved. The Pirates may want to get anything of value they can for McCutchen in case he doesn’t return to All-Star form and prepare for Austin Meadows to man an outfield spot at some point in 2017.

But while we can always find reasons for the way the front office operates, are those reasons valid? Is it in the best interest of the team to shop McCutchen this off-season, or is the front office jumping the gun?

I’d argue it’s smart for the Pirates to gauge interest in McCutchen across the league, not just because it’d be Huntington doing his due diligence, but also because it could provide some extra motivation for McCutchen heading into next year. He knows that with a return to form in 2017, 2016 will look like an aberration, and his potential for a big contract after 2018 would still be in play. Even if the team doesn’t really want to trade him this off-season, by floating his name out there, McCutchen will certainly catch wind of it. And any additional motivation for the former NL MVP would be helpful, even if he doesn’t need it.

However, I’d also say that trading him now, short of a massive haul, would be extremely unwise for a number of different reasons. The risk vs. reward of trading him for an average or above-average package wouldn’t make the deal worth it.

For one, McCutchen’s upside is arguably higher than that of any current Pirate. Having an All-Star or MVP-level McCutchen next season would do wonders towards pushing the Pirates back into playoff contention. This McCutchen of old would be better next year than any prospect or player the Pirates would receive in return for him, and any player they could find via other trades or in free agency, to place in his outfield spot.

For another, uber-prospect Austin Meadows isn’t ready yet. He may be ready at some point next year, but even then, the Pirates shouldn’t expect anything significant from him next year, as it’s never wise to count on rookies to make an immediate impact. And there are no other internal options that are ready to be starters in the outfield over the course of the season next year.

The best path towards returning to the postseason in 2017 is with McCutchen in a Pirates uniform. The Pirates don’t have many holes to fill this off-season outside of a veteran starting pitcher, and there’s all the reason in the world to believe that McCutchen will come into next year more motivated than he’s ever been in his career before. And the McCutchen of 2013-2015 is a player not many teams in all of baseball have. The return of that McCutchen would do more towards closing the gap between the Pirates and the Cubs than any addition or the improvement of any other player on the team. And there always remains the possibility of trading him at the trade deadline next season or next off-season.

Shopping McCutchen is smart; trading him this off-season would not be.

Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography

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