1:12pm: The Pirates have officially announced the deal.
9:05am: The Pirates are in agreement with veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen, per the team’s social media account. The deal came together this morning. MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Andrew Destin were the first to report the terms of the contract: it’s a one-year deal that guarantees McCutchen $5MM.
McCutchen, 38, returns to Pittsburgh for his 12th season with the club and 17th season in the majors. Selected by the Pirates eleventh overall in the 2005 draft, McCutchen debuted with the club in 2009 and quickly established himself as a franchise player. He was the face of the Pirates throughout the 2010s until he was traded to the Giants prior to the 2018 season, and enjoyed an otherworldly five-year run in Pittsburgh where he slashed .302/.396/.509 (151 wRC+) en route to an MVP award, four Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, and five All-Star appearances.
In his five seasons away from the Pirates, McCutchen was no longer the impactful bat he was at his peak but nonetheless remained a solid, steadying presence in the lineup for the Giants, Yankees, Phillies, and Brewers. In 549 games for those clubs from 2018 to 2022, McCutchen hit a respectable .242/.343/.423 with a 110 wRC+. While he lacked the consistent power and high batting averages of his days in Pittsburgh, the veteran still provided value by getting on base at a strong clip thanks to a fantastic 12.7% walk rate during that span.
After the first below-average offensive season of his career with Milwaukee in 2022, he returned to Pittsburgh on a one-year, $5MM contract prior to 2023. He’s since signed identical contracts in the 2023-24 and now the 2024-25 offseasons, and the year-to-year arrangement seems to be working out quite well for both sides as the Pirates inch closer to a return to contention for the first time since McCutchen’s first stint with the team came to an end. Meanwhile, McCutchen has continued to age gracefully with solid production as the club’s regular DH over the past two seasons. His overall numbers in that time are remarkably similar to the five years he spent playing for other clubs, as he’s hit .243/.352/.403 with a wRC+ of 110. Since returning home to Pittsburgh, McCutchen has also reached a number of impressive career milestones including 2,000 hits, 1,000 walks, and 300 home runs.
Looking ahead to 2025, McCutchen figures to provide the Pirates with his typical steady production at DH. It’s the club’s second major move of the offseason after swapping Luis Ortiz to the Guardians in order to land Spencer Horwitz. McCutchen and Horwitz by themselves aren’t likely to dramatically alter an offense that finished third from the bottom in wRC+ with a figure of 86 that bested only the Rockies and White Sox, but there’s reason to believe the club plans to make additional moves as the offseason continues. Previous reports have connected the club to the corner outfield and bullpen markets this winter, and plenty of interesting players remain available in free agency and on the trade market at those positions. While the Pirates are hardly ever particularly big spenders, the club’s $79MM payroll projection for 2025 from RosterResource is $8MM below the club’s 2024 payroll, suggesting that there’s at least some room for additional moves even after bringing back McCutchen.
What????!!!!
The Yankees offered Stroman to the bucs for 3 hotdog vendors. They declined.
At this point, I’m hoping the Jays wake up from their slumber and trade for Stroman.
@13
Stroman is replacement level at this point. I’m guessing you’re a sentimental Blue Jays fan who misses the 2015 Stro-show. He’s not him anymore.
Not to mention the Yankees already got rid of Cortes and are therefore far less likely to move Stroman at this point.
I think I’d rather have 3 Sugardale vendors if I was being honest
Nutting wanted just the hotdogs in the carts, not the vendors. Gotta keep the vendors on payroll whereas the hotdogs themselves lower expenses. I kid.
Nutting’s big move and he was saving it for Christmas. You don’t want to make your big move right out of the gate. You save it. As far as Stroman goes forget it. Even as bad as he is he makes way too much money. Unless the Yanks were paying all but a million dollars, Even the Hot Dogs were too much.
McCutchen is still productive and should end his career as a Pirate. Nothing wrong with this signing. But it shouldn’t be the last.
I always knew McCutchen was good but that run of .303/.396 OBP is HOF.
McCutchen goes on to ~.250/.350 and is a dog for it in a way but still pretty good numbers.
Pirates need him around, it’s a good fit.
They need Kittredge or a similar pen arm capable of closing
Not to mention he won a MVP award and lead the freakin pirates to the playoffs 3 times
First ballot hof when you factor those intangibles in lol
His eye is still elite.
they need lefty arms
whats wrong with the pirates in the 2010s, ik they suck now, but they legitemately had young peices, and quality verteran players, and were 98 win team in 2015, 94 in 2013.
Nuttings big Payroll move
Yeah, but that trade didn’t go through because the Pirates turned it down. I heard the hot dog vendors declined the trade because they didn’t want to sell hot dogs in NY.
Anywhere else would feel wrong
He already played for multiple teams lol.
and it felt wrong 🙂
yeah and if he signed with anyone else it would feel wrong, he’s already said he regrets not signing with the pirates earlier, but then again, the pirates probably never offered him a contract
He’s on a near HOF track. Not quite there though IMO. Hall of the Very Good for sure.
He’s way better than Dave Parker and Harold Baines. McCutchen is definitely getting in.
“Way better than Dave Parker”…I watched Dave Parker play a lot and there’s plenty of Hofers that are not “way better” than Dave Parker.
Dave Parker is one of the best players I’ve ever seen play baseball. I’m guessing you’re a sabermetrics, stat geek who has never seen Parker actually play baseball.
I watched Parker a lot, too. I don’t have nearly the effusive praise you do but agree that he belongs in the Hall. He was often a loose cannon for the Pirates but I do believe that having guys like Stargell and Bill Robinson around helped him to remember the idea of “team”
I saw Clemente. I saw Bonds pre-steroids. I don’t think he approaches either, but to detract from his enshrinement is folly
the Bucs of the Parker era had plenty of incredible players.
Robinson, Stargell, Al Oliver ( who also belongs in the HOF)? Madlock, Garner and Moreno to name just a few
I was a Mike “The Hit Man” Easler fan. Foli was a steady shortstop, too. Those trades for Madlock and Garner were legendary
or trading Al Oliver for Bert Blylevin.
No starter in 1979 won more than 14 games yet they still won the World Series
BPax- You definitely didn’t watch baseball in the 2010’s
The only positive to the Bucs offseason every year…
Lol
Least surprising move of the offseason.
So far, the least surprising move will overall be Kershaw back to LA.
surprising?
This was expected since the owner said Cutch is welcome to play for the team until he decides he retire
It was just a matter of when he signed not if he wanted to play
That’s … that’s what he said
Reading comprehension is not part of his arsenal.
…
I kinda love this for the Pirates and McCutchen.
I hope it was for another 1 year/$5M haha.
Proves no such thing as inflation
I’m a finance nerd so I already thought about that part of it and it is pretty clear to me that this price point is more of a psychological / symbolic valuation- there’s something about it being a stagnant $5M that feels like it is an appropriate level of veteran leadership / legendary homegrown player respect without actually having any real impact on the team’s payroll and McCutchen isn’t really trying to make more money at this point, just doesn’t want a salary that disrespects his presence and past success and is actually in line with his production relative to WAR value.
Cutch has earned around $80 million dollars in his career, he doesn’t need the money. He offered his services for $5 million
According to Baseball Reference, the number is $133,375.
At almost $134 million he still doesn’t need the money
Yeah. How will the poor guy feed his family?
Or buy gas in PA?
gas is more expensive in Pennsylvania because they have the highest gasoline tax per gallon in the country
I remember when the Bucs offered Barry Bonds a 5 year contract worth $25 million and he turned it down saying “ I have to feed my family “
Manager Jim Leyland later said “ you could feed the entire country of Haiti for that much money
Now bring back Marte and all will be right in the world.
And Jose Tabata.
Deja vu?
@178. The Yankees offered 3 hot dogs, not hot dog vendors. It was just 3 hot dogs. They also offered DJL for half a hot dog. The Pirates still said No.
let me guess, you were the class clown in school
great gesture BUT I have been wondering if this (assumed) commitment has influence over Pirates effort to add FAs. Their ownwershit limits their signings.
Good signing but it sends a false message to Nutting that he only needs to spend $5 million to get a MLB player. He doesn’t want to sign anyone over this amount since he considers it an overpay. Cutch should have asked for much more and see if he gets a return call.
5 million for a DH that’s playing 120 games for you and will pass Clemente on Homers as a Pirate is a good investment.
They have 22 million from Taylor Champen and Perez being gone go get a real bat trade Keller for for cost controlled offense and see what happens with the division
$22 Million more for his pocket
That’s money in this trash ownership’s pocket. And this signing is good PR for the true believing fans
I still wonder where the moron poster is who last summer said he “knew” Nutting reinvests “every penny he makes back in the team”. Or the poster who wants us to believe that Nutting doesn’t make nearly as much as what published reports over the years
Nutting is our Mister Potter. Unfortunately, there is no George Bailey coming over the hill to save us from more of the same garbage baseball
They should not trade Keller unless a team overpays. And if they replace him with someone else who will give you innings and 30 stars, like Strowman for example. They still have the budget to sign a bat and a reliever. Why break up the strength of the team?
It’s amazing the Pirates would even float the idea. To show how Nutting has lost local media, I don’t know of any journalist who heard about it and saw it anything than more penny pinching from a jagoff owner (Note: jagoff isn’t swearing. It’s Pittsburgh)
The only thing this team had going was its starting pitching staff. They gave away a good young starter and float the names of two others? Seriously?
Keller is going to be the 4th or 5th starter soon. Bubba is going to take his spot
Skenes Bubba Jones Oviedo Falter
Bubba and Ovi will be on an innings limit like Jones. Falter is where he should be as a solid 5. Can’t rely on needing three young starters staying healthy all season, and if one of them is injured/resting, the rotation went to shambles.
Even though Perez was inconsistent and kinda bad last year, he was for the most part reliable. And they had no idea how to fill the 5th starter role and would either wear out the pen or call up a has been who’d get pummeled.
Yeah. I agree. I’m not on the Keller is our new Garrett Cole bandwagon by any means.
But you seem to be another fan on the Hope Express
There’s no way you give away Ortiz
Bubba is going to be good. We hope
Oviedo will be ok after TJ surgery. We hope
Jones will be more mature. We hope
Falter will look like he did last year and not the guy who pitched for other teams. We hope
Keller won’t have his usual couple of poor pitching streaks. We hope
Ortiz was the second best pitcher down the stretch. And they gave him away. Sheesh
What’s the big deal about passing Clemente? Cutch is still only third on this list behind Kiner and Pops.
I don’t think there is a big deal but they will sure as heck market it to sell tickets
holecamels35:
Keller for stroman? are you crazy?
God no. I mean, if they did trade Keller to pick up a nice bat or two, pick up a vet like him on the cheap to eat innings. They’d probably only have to pay half his salary or pay the whole thing for the Yanks to give him away.
Not my ideal scenario though. But the offensive market is drying up. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to sign Winker and/or Austin Hays for an OF platoon that should be productive.
I like the idea of a Winker platoon
not true
This is the amount Cutch said he would play for, beginning 2 years ago when Cutch called Nutting personally
I seriously doubt that this signing blocked them from pursuing someone better like a Santander or Pederson. If it wasn’t McCutchen, it would’ve been another $5 mil player (or less).
does anyone ever think that maybe players don’t want to sign with the Bucs?
I know that if I was to free agent I wouldn’t have to consider signing because no matter where well I played, at the deadline I would be traded
You know, I’d agree with that if it weren’t for the Royals signing a supporting cast last off season. Or the A’s—the A’s!—signing players this off season
I do agree that any player would be willing to listen but then laugh at low ball offers
I don’t believe Cherington even reaches out to the mid tier players anymore. We laughed at the Tellez signing last year, a bottom of the barrel deal. But the GM proved that yea, they can go lower and gave away a starting pitcher for another guy who’ll be a trivia question in a couple years
It’s a sick joke
If offers are the same they won’t sign with the Pirates. But $1M more and show them where to sign. Players are signing deals everyday with teams that will not win a World Series. Most players care about winning just as much as Nutting. They will usually sign with the highest bidder.
They did not trade Chapman last season even though they could have gotten something good in return, so not totally true.
Right. You can say the A’s overpaid but they really didn’t. The Mets drastically overpaid for Montas, Sox for Bueler, it’s just how the market is. They will have to “overpay” by their standards to get a quality, or hopefully quality, player, or else keep getting table scraps.
you don’t know if Ben tried to trade Chapman but his asking price was too high
No they decided to hold onto chapmen the team said so
If the Pirates offered market value, players would be happy to sign with Pirates, as the signing of Chapman last year showed. We all know Nutting and Cherington don’t offer market value FA contracts for more than 1 year.
GOAT Closer Esteban Yan…..regarding your name. i have to admit that it is pretty impressive to pitch 11 seasons, 472 games, face almost 3100 hitters and manage a lifetime bWAR of 1.0.
GOAT-worthy stats. My bWAR also matches my career home run total.
Hey…..wow….mine too….. go figure.
Even as a Cubs fan I like Cutch. What a feel-good Christmas signing. Pirates never go anywhere anyway, so why not?
As a pirate fan, he hit 20 or so home runs so yes, it feels good, but this off season has been typical pirates BS as usual. Nutting is the worst ever owner
Cutch deserves a plague or statue outside PNC Park. He’s a folk legend out there. Love to see him finish out his playing career in those colors. Anything else would be wrong.
Haha, I know that’s a typo, but hilarious
I know that you don’t know much about Cutch or his relationship with the team and city of Pittsburgh
TheMan – Reading comprehension is essential
plague – /plāɡ/ – noun
a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes ( bubonic plague ) and sometimes infection of the lungs ( pneumonic plague ).
plaque – /plak/ – noun
1.an ornamental tablet, typically of metal, porcelain, or wood, that is fixed to a wall or other surface in commemoration of a person or event.
blah blah bl sh
who cares, Einstein?
you’re another exhausting human being
Man…..why aren’t you just the pleasant little fella….about as pleasant as a 3 finger rectal exam.
I don’t understand your particular brand of crazy but I do admire your total commitment to it.
Have a nice day
His “plague” has been playing for a miserly owner who will provide him with no shot at winning anything other than a pierogi race
A worldwide Andrew McCutchen plague would make the world a better place. There aren’t too many people in this world that are a better human being than Cutch.
If I catch McCutchen 24 will I hit lead off home runs? I didn’t like the trade when the Giants acquired him and still wish we had kept Reynolds but I did enjoy watching him play while he was in the Bay Area.
A plague of niceness. We really need one of those right about now.
Pirates fever – Cutch it.
Lol. Just hope he gets his number retired
Good for Cutch and the Pirates.
Furries.
He’ll miss them as the Pirates will be in Seattle
@InsertWitty Seattle has a team. Portland or even Vancouver would make a nice home for the Pirates. That is IF Nutting sells the team and the next owner acknowledges the damages Nutting has done with the support and crippling fan base. Which will they will redeem the Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh as unprofitable. Portland is a rapidly growing city and can support an MLB club. As much as I would hate to see the Pirates leaving Pittsburgh, but be the best for the franchise after what we (the fan base) been through for the last 40 years. Bankruptcy, poor ownership pre-Nutting and through current Nutting ownership, broken promises, lies, and watered down honesty to the city and the fans. Nutting has run the fan base out of the park and the fan base wants to run him out of town while sending him in exile in Afghanistan or some Amazon forest country.
I agree with everything you e said here but you misunderstood witty
The Furies Convention will be here while the Pirates are in Seattle next season
There is no way they are moving to Seattle next season. Their lease doesn’t expire until 2030 and it would be several lawsuits and 100 of millions of dollars to break the lease 5-6 years before its expiration. Let’s be realistic here
You burned down the town. MLB is not moving into that.
My friend, you’re missing the point
Witty wasn’t saying the Pirates are moving. To Seattle. To anywhere
The Furies have a huge convention in Pittsburgh every summer. Cutch is a big fan. People dressed in furry costumes
Witty is saying Cutch won’t be here in Pittsburgh for the convention this year, as the Pirates are on the road in Seattle to play the Mariners
But MLB is talking about building a stadium and having an MLB team in Mexico City. That makes perfect sense, right? But Portland doesn’t?
I’m either missing something here or living somewhere out of the outer edge of the twilight zone
Ok
Well, I agree with most of what you’ve said here
Has me SMH too MrMain….it’s not you.
Mr- I think that 1981 is missing something,not you.
Twilight Zone was a great tv program but only when it was an hour long.
1981 is heck bent on moving the Pirates.
I wonder if there are any fur balls at the convention.
MLB like the NFL wants to go International
The Prague Pirates. Has a nice ring to it
@mrmain that previous comment was meant for Joe. I do apologize that I wasn’t clear with who that was directed too. I understood after the fury convention and wasn’t saying more. The “burn the city” comment by Joe, was why I mentioned Mexico City. It was just a counter comment and nothing more. Again, my apologies for “wires being crossed” and miscommunication. Have a safe holiday
No problem at all.
Some players just don’t know when to hang it up.
Smh go somewhere
Putt- Darren is just an ADF.
Clearly now is not the time for Cutch to hang it up since a major league baseball team offered him $5 million to play baseball.
Neither do some people that constantly post negative garbage.
This is to DarrenDreifortsContract.
I wonder if Mordecai Brown could throw a three finger split?
I think I just got my 3rd one right
3 more than me! Nice work
This was shocking and out of left field!
Lol
Glad they resigned him even if it was never in doubt. And the way that the Hall of fame is going… yeah Veterans committee elects him in around 2045.
The way the Hall of Fame is going, I’ll be elected by 2037. Right after Paul Casanova and Ron Kittle.
No.You were in the Hall of Good for a few years.
They were in the Hall of mediocre.
Any one really surprised? even with the decline he was still around average overall. Not a big bat the team needs though.
An average bat improves the overall offense right now. So even taking the sentimental aspect out of this it’s still a good baseball decision for the team.
It’s the cheap decision. It’s the PR decision
Nothing more. I like Cutch but hoping he hits over 20 homers again this year is just another of the many ones this house of shaky cards this “lineup” is built upon
Guy’s gonna rake!
I’m officially disappointed in the Pirates off-season. This is a waste of a roster spot. I would much rather see these bats go to someone who might contribute to the next Pirates winning team someone like Billy Cook or Nick Yorke. I don’t care if Cutch hits his 240th home run in a Pirates uniform. More gimmicks and more wasted money from Nutting.
Yorke and cook probably will be playing OF and 1st
there’s still 2 roster spots left, Cook
and Yorke already are on the roster
I agree with you about this pathetic franchise. But where Cutch is concerned, it’s yet another PR move from their greed obsessed owner and nothing more
Nutting is looking to do nothing in terms of spending money. He knows his revenue streams that come from MLB/TV and other sources will only increase
It’s not personal. He may be a beautiful Child of God for all I know. But as an owner, he’s MLB’s Mister Potter, a miserly curmudgeon that we are blessed with
when I recently read the President of Baseball Operations for the Bucs say that their only focus is on winning, I thought he must be talking to a gullible fans who will spend their hard earned money to attend games and watch the Pierogi races and Saturday’ night fireworks
Clearly, Nutting and Williams don’t envision Pirates fans as the demographic that goes back to Forbes Field. Or the Lumber Company. Or ‘71 or ‘79. Or even the Bonds era
Williams and his people equate the ideal Pirates fans with those who know little baseball and see the ballpark and the perks as being part of the experience. Winning teams take a back seat. It’s the Nutting marketing shell game.
But it’s gotten old. It’s a rotten franchise with a genuflecting front office. And it’s comical that those who see some silver lining in all of this are the ones who either swallow the company line or will use analytics to tell us that what our eyes see isn’t actually real.
The “if’s “ and “hopes” crowd. It’s their time of year, to be sure
There are only 38 guys on the 40 man and both Cook and Yorke are on the roster and on the bench now. Who exactly do you think Cutch is blocking at DH?
When I say a wasted roster spot I’m talking about the active 25 man roster. DH stands for Designated hitter which he’s slightly average at. He produced 0.8 war last season in 515 plate appearances. It’s not like he played great. Add that to no defensive value and little speed (3 SB last year). He severely limits what Shelton can do. Again, I want to see Cooke and Yorke get at bats. As for your question of who he’s blocking? How about Henry Davis? With Bart and Endy on the team, he’s not catching. He ain’t playing first (with the trade for Spencer) and he’s shown so far he’s not an outfielder. So his at bat should come at DH. Both he and Cutch are right handed. We need to see if Davis is a big league. Not see Cutch pass Clemente on the Home Run list.
lr jack and his 9 homers and .151 batting average
I’m hoping Davis and Suwinski can prove their worth. I’m just of the belief it won’t happen here, new batting coach or not
Its 26 man. Davis hit .192 over 377 PA in Pittsburgh. Cutch is still better. Next excuse.
I can’t believe people still reference WAR.
Truth- I hate to say it but I think that you live up to your post name.
I like Cutch but am not sure that his presence helps the young players as much as Santana did.I am also afraid that he blocks someone like Davis who is finally divested of Andy Haines.
Davis does not really have a good position and needs a 40 game continuous chance of establishing himself as a ML hitter.
Do the Pirates live in the past or try to make the playoffs?
I also would hate to see Cutch drop off the cliff like Jose Abreu did,and not realize it himself.
Many of these teams use the DH position to rotate starters into.Cutch clogs this position for Joey Bart and Suwinski also,who hopefully will benefit from a new batting coach and a platoon system when playing the field.
It is great to cling to the past but it compromises the freedom of the manager to create the batting order.
And I think that Nutting’s biggest weakness even more than his frugality/cheapness/ miserliness is his distance from taking an active role other than managing money in the management of this team.I think that he is clueless.Shelton,who is a nice guy,will never lead this team to the playoffs.
With all due respect to Cutch,he is not the future of this franchise.
And 2030 will be here sooner than we think.
I agree Cutch has better stats. What did that get you? Is 76-86 what you want? Go cheer for him to hit home run 241. Who’s more likely to contribute to the next Pirates playoff team? The Pirates need to know of Davis can play before they cut him loose. It will be a colossal mistake if he becomes a star somewhere else. Cutch just keeps getting worse. Enjoy!
Which stats do you like? OPS+? That would be 105 which means he’s just slightly better than the random replacement player. Maybe you like this stat line 232/328/411 with a 25.8% strikeout rate. Keep falling for the gimmicks. You won’t see me at Cutch’s bobble head night. Enjoy your junk stadium giveaway.
@speak. An OPS+ does not mean he is slightly above “the random replacement player”. It means that he is slightly above the league average. Two very different things.
I usually agree with everything you post Mendoza but Davis and Jack need to prove they belong in the majors.
Both had atrocious seasons at the major league level last year
ever heard of spring training?
If Davis can prove he can hit major league pitching he will be brought north to start the season
If not someone else will make the team
Paul-I do not disagree on both hitters but we must remember how inept the whole Pirates system is and how Andy Haines had a “negative WAR value”.
Neither is ever going to be Willie Stargell but they have produced well in AAA or ML so they at least have some potential to be at least decent ML hitters.Suwinski for one needs to be platooned as many ML left handed hitters cannot hit left handed pitchers.
I hate to see young hitters like this tossed aside so easily as all they may need is a fighting chance at playing time with competent instruction.
Paul- I think it behooves any of these young players to have a good ST but many do have one and fall short when they have to face actual ML pitchers.
That is why I think that 40 games of actual ML hitting with competent coaching while just worrying about hitting could show whether Davis has decent potential to become a good ML hitter.
He may not have the fielding prowess at any position to otherwise be a good ML player.
Clutch really is a class act. To have the equanimity of already having made his millions and being willing to accept the same $5 million year after year speaks volumes about his character. Baseball just wouldn’t feel right having him play anywhere else.
Perfection. Now for the love of God surround him, the young guns, and Reynolds with some players!
Mets just gave their 4th starter 25 million – which is actually 37.5 million – to pitch in 27 games that’s pretty good.
The Mets are a large market team with a very good broadcast network, the Bucs are a small market team and a lousy broadcast network
people like you are exhausting
With big luxury tax and revenue sharing income.
In a move surprising no one…
Not surprising but not bad. Cutch should be wearing a Pirates uniform if he’s going to continue to play
Let’s also give a shout-out for the short-term trade of Cutch to SF for Bryan Reynolds and Crick.
Still pissed about that trade. And I was pissed at the time too, same with the Beltran trade.
Love seeing Cutch in a Pirates uniform.
And water is still wet.
……as it should be!! A class act!
Yep. MLB salary situation is so broken
Cutch will always be a Pirate, and good for him, and for them. Here’s hoping the best of good fortune for this season.
Much more deserving Hof than parker
We know, you don’t think Parker deserves a plaque at the HOF but overall, he’s had a better career than Cutch
you’re also exhausting
Ummm no…but also, ummmm…it’s not an either/or question.
goober I wasn’t talking to you
So?
The fact remains…
You have recency bias. The Cobra was and is way more deserving than McCutcheon is. Any Pirates or Reds fan that watched baseball in the 70’s and 80’s know how good Dave Parker was.
Plus as a Reds fan, Dave Parker was the player we sent to Oakland at the end of his career to acquire Jose Rijo, our ace and World Series MVP on our last World Series champion in 1990. Coincidentally the Reds and Pirates played in the NLCS that year.
“watched baseball” your biased eyes are irrelevant
Joe, if you were responding to me, I agree about Dave Parker. I was just telling another fellow that it’s not one or the other, but both Parker and Cutch could get in(though, God bless him, I don’t think Cutch will.)
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
While I’m glad they re-signed him, this pathetic franchise and its greed obsessed, carpetbagging owner have done nothing this off season. Worst off season in decades
What an absolute joke of a baseball franchise
Cutch is like the tired old uncle that is the last family member at the party when you just want to put the day behind you.
I would rather have Cutch than Tellez , DLC and a half dozen other worthless players Cherington has signed since he was hired
Santana got $7 mil more for the same stats?
The $5 million that Cutch got was his agreed upon salary
Another words he offered his services for that amount
Are they cheap? Absolutely but this isn’t on Cutch
Still waiting for the Bucs to make a real move to improve this team, otherwise they are just waiting to see what they can get for Skenes in 3 years!
unfortunately they will only sign has beens or never will bees which is the norm for this franchise
The bottom of the barrel, major league minimum type players
Heaven forbid if signing a mid tier free agent might cut into Nutting’s profit margin
If I were Andrew McCutchen, I would negotiate some sort of stake in the team. Also, I love the fact that he is with them again.
This had to happen. Congrats to one of the truly great guys in the game on getting to ride off into the sunset of his career on his own terms.
Nick, trading for Spencer Horwitz is not a major move. It’s underwhelming at best.
Loyalty. I’m betting other teams would have offered Cutch more than five mil. But good for him, regardless. Hope he can retire a Pirate.
Cutch lives in Pittsburgh year round and his children attend school locally
He’s a fan favorite and an important staple for the city
He doesn’t want to play anywhere else
Just giving props for a great moniker.
Thank you i’m a Cub fan but his a future HOF guy who wants to be there in Pittsburgh good sign . if game on the line thats a scary PH
This is the way.
Top 5 Pirate fan favorite. Top 10 Pirate talent.
The right decision, for sure.
Still, it makes me sad that he’s almost certainly going to retire without a championship.
Congrats to McClutch on his new deal. I keep thinking his days are over and he keeps proving me wrong….Great Player and Better Person.
Regardless of whether this guy ends up in Cooperstown, #22 will 100% be memorialized at PNC Park after he retires.
YES
YES!
YES FUTURE HALL OF FAMER!
MY BOY CUTCH!!!!
Andrew McCutchen has always been a class act and I’ll never forget when he went to the railing of the stands and gave his batting gloves to two little boys that were rocking Pirates gear …needless to say those kids are fans for life. Having him resign with Pittsburgh is the way it should be and I for one hope he is a 1st ballot entry into the Hall of Fame.
I wanted to make a comment on the minor league signing of Darrick Hall but have found no article in MLTR.
I live near Philadelphia and he was quite a short time sensation several years ago.
Since then he has been blocked by Hoskins and then Harper.
Not sure why he went downhill so quickly,but he probably saw no future in Philadelphia.
He has pure raw power which is something that the Pirates have not had since Pedro Alvarez.
I hope that he plays well in spring training and AAA and then pushes Horwitz to 2B and Gonzalez to SS.
There is some potential for a win win win with this under the radar signing.
With Cook and Yorke there is potential for a roster crunch coming out of ST.Alika’s and Jihan’s days may be numbered.
We’ve seen nothing about this but as you know, Pittsburgh is where careers come to die. I don’t think much of Horwitz however, so perhaps this kid can provide a spark at 1st. Lord knows, the Pirates need someone—anyone—who can drive in some runs
As is, this is a 69-72 win team
With Shelton as manager, 69-72 wins is a push
I read about his signing on Rumbunter website
Horowitz at 2b????? nah.
Gonzalez at short????? i think gonzalez is the answer to their middle infield.
If they really are trying to “win”, they need to be okay with trading prospects to get good hitters.
Tricky
Wait what year is it – just woke up nap
i think its 2025