If Andrew McCutchen Wants to Play in 2025, Someone Will Happily Take Him

9-3-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Here’s the thing with Andrew McCutchen, from the moment the Pirates decided to bring him back to Pittsburgh, this story was always going to end either with Andrew retiring as a Pittsburgh Pirate or a messy divorce with a player who still thinks he has game left to give.

So, I say this partially for effect.

If Andrew McCutchen wants to play in 2025, Bob Nutting won’t allow it to be anywhere but Pittsburgh.

I know, Bob doing something many of you like, probably doesn’t add up, but it’s true. He’s the reason he came back, he’s the reason he returned for 2024, and he’ll be the reason he returns again, likely for the same 5 million dollar price tag he’s taken each of the last two.

Fans, including me, have enjoyed having him back, but we’ve also all been waiting for when he’d call it quits. His inability to play in the field and the near constant worry that is keeping a 37 year old body in shape enough to hit and run along with several players that don’t have a perfect fit in the field have created a situation where everyone is seemingly looking for an escape route.

Maybe we should be looking at what he’s actually doing though, instead of what he’s mythologically blocking.

37 years old, 450 plate appearances, 18 homeruns and a .758 OPS.

It’s not that the Pirates can’t replace this production, it’s more that with 80 fewer at bats, Cutch is tied for 2nd on the team with Oneil Cruz and those 18 homers.

That’s not something I think is fair to expect him to replicate, but he’ll come a lot closer to it for 5 Million bucks than anyone I can think of on the Free Agent market. You know, and he’ll do the whole living legend thing too.

There are concerns.

• He’ll be 38 and every year the end of the race gets closer. We could be watching it right now and not even know it.
• The Bucs have cause to want to use the DH spot to rest other players, or mask their defense
• Should the Pirates stick with current coaching, there has to be some question that they have the ability to sense this isn’t a player to lead off games or hit cleanup anymore.

All that said, He’s still been a productive player. It would be one thing if they had 7 or 8 guys I felt were sure bets to out hit him, but when this club is routinely popping out 3 or 4 spots in a lineup that feature what probably don’t constitute league average players, good luck selling me they can’t use an old guy who’s popping close to 20 dingers.

I’m all done pretending he can play the field even a little though. If you want him to be productive at the plate, let that dream go. His body won’t allow it, the mind is willing but the body is incapable. I mean, we’re to the point where scoring from first base or trying to leg out a triple might be enough to net him a day or two on the pine.

Bottom line, someone will take him, and it really should be the Pirates.