The pirates should not trade Andrew McCutchen

by buccobat on Oct 7, 2011 11:15 PM EDT

There has been some recent talk here that the pirates should trade Andrew McCutchen now or at the 2012 trade deadline. Here are a few reasons why we should not:

He's cheap.

McCutchen will make league minumum next year and will still be worth more than his value throughout his 3 arbitration years. He will be a great deal for the Pirates and is locked up for 4 more years. It would not be smart for the pirates to trade a blooming superstar while he is still making league minumum, unless you are signifigantly overpaid.

He's our only star.

This is not always a reason not to trade player. When you are starting a rebuilding rebuilding process and you have a veteran star on a veteran team it is often very smart to trade him if you get good value. But when you are in the middle of a rebuilding process with a young, blooming star and a young team that could very well win while the star is still under team control, it is not often smart to trade him. If the pirates were to trade McCutchen it would signifigently weaken an already very poor lineup and anger a rejuvinated fanbase.

His value's not going down.

The reason some of you want to trade McCutchen is because you think his value is at its highest because he has shown he's a star and has not hit arbitration. This would be true if McCutchen is not going to improve. Say two years from now McCutchen is coming off .900ops season his value would be simaler to what it is now. If you then trade him you are getting 2 productive years off McCutchen and getting the same value. Even if you lose a little value it is still worth it because he is such a great player.

Starling Marte is not a guarentee.

I really like Marte as a prospect, I consider him the third best in our system, but he is still a prospect and no prospect is a lock. Marte will not even be ready until atleast midseason. In that time injuries or slumps can create openings in the outfield. If Marte out plays Tabata or Presley it's his job, but he is not a good enogh prospect to force us to trade McCutchen.

In conclusion, it would not be smart to McCutchen. It would hurt the team now and likely a couple years down the road. It would discourage fans and leave a hole in center field atleast for a couple months until Marte ready. I would not trade McCutchen unless a team overpays by a lot. He is a blooming star and the face of our franchise.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

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Comments

the penguins should also not trade sidney crosby

also, the steelers should probably not trade ben roethlisberger

by titanlord91 on Oct 8, 2011 12:37 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Disagree.

And I also feel:
The Yankees should have dealt Jeter after his rookie year.
The Packers should trade Aaron Rodgers.
The Bulls should have traded Jordan.
The Lakers should have dealt Magic, Kareem, and Kobe while they still could have got something.

The list goes on and on, but at least there is one smart team out there… The BoSox dealt Ruth.

by H2O on Oct 8, 2011 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions

They should also not try to convince their pitchers....

that they should work on throwing with their opposite hands in the offseason….except for Correia. There is at least a 35% chance he is actually left handed.

by goodtymes31 on Oct 8, 2011 12:44 AM EDT reply actions

titan, that is exactly what i was thinking haha

by PensRock1 on Oct 8, 2011 2:38 AM EDT reply actions

I'm not sure

Who suggested we trade Cutch?

by bosten7 on Oct 8, 2011 8:36 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Beat me to it.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Oct 8, 2011 8:40 AM EDT up reply actions

twas me

by white angus on Oct 8, 2011 9:04 AM EDT up reply actions

heres a couple

‘if Marte was ready, would you trade Cutch for someone like Bumgarner?
Or maybe for a couple/few VERY good prospects?
i, for one, would do it. and i wouldnt wait 3 years either’
and
‘but cutch IS at his optimal value
hes not even eligible for arbitration, which increases his trade value for 2012 immensely.
if he can bring back some serious talent, dammit you do it.’
by white angus
‘I think the opposite.
I think Huntington pulls the trigger on a A. McCutchen trade for some AAAA pitching that can help this Pirate rotation.
Let’s face it……..22 isn’t resigning here……EVER…….trade him now and get some values.’
by chuckberries
and more on the
Arizona Fall League: Robbie Grossman Keeps Hitting
post

by buccobat on Oct 8, 2011 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions

I think chuckberries was kidding about trading him for AAAA pitching

by BigB2323 on Oct 8, 2011 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess he might have been

I was thinking he meant big league ready pitching

by buccobat on Oct 8, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions

I think much of the sentiment that this stemmed from was “it does not hurt to listen” on any player, at which point people started throwing scenarios around.

As for the AAAA comment…I’m guessing that was subtle sarcasm.

by insane_sanity on Oct 8, 2011 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I've definitely brought it up

but I can’t see a scenario where it makes sense for at least another 12-24 months

by Mr. E on Oct 9, 2011 12:58 AM EDT up reply actions

the guy who has McCutchen in his user name

is constantly suggesting, ney fantasizing, that we trade Cutch.

by Central*Scrutinizer on Oct 9, 2011 4:38 AM EDT up reply actions

I was one of those who suggested the possibility of trading McCutchen

A few key points:

- My context was that trading McCutchen MIGHT BE the best chance Huntington has of improving the Pirates for 2012. Both Presley and Tabata are capable of playing CF in the majors NOW, with Gorkys and Marte in the upper minors. Thus, if NH could get a top-of-the-rotation starter and a young, power-hitting corner player (e.g. 1B) for McCutchen, he could fill the two biggest holes on the team.

- I’m working off a premise that the Pirates WILL trade McCutchen….. the only question is when. His agent has made it pretty clear that he’s not interested in having any free agent years bought out. McCutchen will be free-agent-eligible after the 2015 season. So, the critical question becomes, when will McCutchen’s trade value start dropping? This is the kind of difficult question which GM’s are paid to answer.

- I agree (and have posted previously) that the IDEAL time to trade McCutchen probably will be a couple years from now (for SOME of the reasons stated by the OP in this thread), assuming that McCutchen stays healthy and continues to play as he has. (I’d love to see him become a .consistent 900+ OPS guy, but that seems less likely with each passing year. He’s been consistently in the low .800’s for his 3 years in the majors.) By then (2 years from now), the team should have a much better feel for what they have in guys like Tabata, Presley, Marte, and Gorkys Hernandez….. and MAYBE some of the Huntington-drafted pitchers will start to show up.

by magnumo on Oct 8, 2011 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Id be happy to trade him in acouple of years

but right now I think we should keep him

by buccobat on Oct 8, 2011 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

NO!

Let’s trade him now, then trade FOR him later. It will be cool, and make a good story.

Stories > Championships

by H2O on Oct 8, 2011 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions

So, the critical question becomes, when will McCutchen’s trade value start dropping?

It drops every day that passes, as a function of his remaining service time.

by Vlad on Oct 10, 2011 8:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Where are these reports

that say Steve Hammond has made it clear that McCutchen won’t agree to lose any free agent years? I’ve heard people say this before but I’ve never seen it supported by anything other than speculation. Honestly, the closest thing I’ve seen to an actual report that McCutchen flat out refuses to negotiate into his FA years was a rumor by a poster on here that said ’Cutch confided in his neighbor (over a plate of delicious home made fried chicken, no less) that he would never resign with Pittsburgh because he wants to be a Yankee…

From the P-G on Sept, 25: Hammond and Huntington declined to comment (on McCutchen’s contract negotiations), citing the agreement not to publicly discuss contract talks. Pirates owner Bob Nutting did not respond to an interview request.

According to multiple team and industry sources, the Pirates will probably offer a six-year deal with at least one club option. Neither of those conditions figures to be contentious. The battle line will be drawn, as it usually is in these situations, over the dollar figure.

Of course McCutchen would be hesitant to sign through free agent years because they can bring a serious payday but that doesn’t mean he absolutely won’t sign if the price is right. For example, Justin Upton will make more during the last two years of his current deal than Carl Crawford made during the first year of his free agent deal. Signing away a couple of FA years doesn’t necessarily cost you money.

Also, why does McCutchen’s failure to become a .900 OPS player seem less likely just because through age 24, he has posted an OPS of about .825?

Matt Kemp’s career OPS was .808 through his age 25 season and he broke out this year. Carlos Beltran’s OPS was .796 through age 24. Justin Morneau was .775. Curtis Granderson, .777. Adrian Beltre, .748.

Now obviously, it doesn’t happen for every player but I just don’t see why the belief held by many (not limited to magnumo) on the board seems to be of the opinion that because McCutchen is a .275/.365/.460 player at 24, that is all he is going to amount to during his years as a Pirate.

by KentuckyPirate on Oct 10, 2011 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that any and all of our players should be tradable. Being a small market team we have to be open to it. For instance, if we were offered a sizeable return (i.e. the Mark Teixeira trade from the Rangers to the Braves) we should at least consider it. It would be one thing if he was our only centerfielder on the depth chart.

Don’t get me wrong. I only think we should trade him if we are overwhelmed. Perhaps the Braves might want him and would part with a bunch of their highly touted pitchers.

by Cainyoudigit on Oct 8, 2011 5:02 PM EDT reply actions

yep

all depends on the return. In general, its hard to get value for a player like Cutch for as long as he has left in control years. But if someone comes up with a big offer, absolutely, consider it!

by BurgherKing on Oct 9, 2011 1:39 AM EDT up reply actions

its actually NOT hard to get value if he has years of control

this would actually increase his value. to a team desperately needing a top level MLB talent, cutch could bring back a fantastic haul

by white angus on Oct 9, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions

he should

but you’d need such a ton of talent that teams would be reluctant to give it up. That’s why those trades rarely happen…

by BurgherKing on Oct 9, 2011 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions

i think they rarely happen

because the team looking to trade young talent holds onto them as long as possible, not including the rare Rasmus case.

their affordability allows the team to look elsewhere to aquire players to add around said player. which would be the ideal way to build this team.

but getting players to come to the burgh will be a problem unless we are seriously in contention for a couple of seasons

by white angus on Oct 10, 2011 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't think the Braves would be a good fit now that they have Bourne

But I’d love to get say Freeman/Beachy…

The Nationals have been looking for a CF for a long time now… Maybe we can get Ryan Zimmerman & AJ Cole. They’ve been known to overpay, so why not.

Thinking R. Zimmerman on the basis that Rendon would move quickly.

Move Pedro to first, and you should get plus defense around the horn, and a top pitching prospect in Cole.

The Nationals have shown their willingness to overpay, so why not here…

I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm. ~~ Mike Tyson

by Cheap Beer on Oct 10, 2011 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

$$ is different than prospects. Otherwise they would have Zack Greinke and Denard Span/BJ Upton by now. No chance they move that Zimmerman.

by Mr. E on Oct 10, 2011 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd take Jordan, but I think he's less likely to move than Ryan...

I’m thinking mid 12’ to offseason 12’13’ when this trade would be an option, and I have to disagree with the thought about them not wanting to move R.Zim…

Well unless they move Rendon to 2B… which is entirely possible.

I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm. ~~ Mike Tyson

by Cheap Beer on Oct 10, 2011 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

That's just the impression that I get

I think extending Zimm will be a big priority this winter, assuming they don’t nab Sabathia or Prince or something crazy. He’s the face of the franchise and Rendon is a guy with a bum shoulder in A ball.

by Mr. E on Oct 10, 2011 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions