The Pirates may be mired in the kind of slump that consumes a season – 6-14 over their last 20 games, as of this writing – and renders them mostly irrelevant just in time for training camp hype to ramp up, but a report from MLB Network insider Jon Morosi cut through the malaise earlier this week.
Morosi tweeted Monday that, “The Rangers have broached the possibility of acquiring Andrew McCutchen, but the Pirates are not prepared to move yet. The deal would have particular interest to Texas if at least one pitcher is part of the deal, as well.”
Naturally, that revelation caught many Pirates fans off guard, and when Rangers General Manager Chris Young went on Dallas radio to refute Morosi’s reporting as baseless, Bucs fans went after Morosi.
It was readily apparent that the notion of trading McCutchen was a non-starter for most of the faithful.
It shouldn’t be. In fact, if McCutchen wants to pursue a championship – he’s never even played in a league championship series – the Pirates should do whatever they can to facilitate such a move. It would be organizational malpractice to do anything else.
McCutchen is the rare athlete who is considerably more popular than the team that employs him, owing to the fact that his departure from Pittsburgh was not of his choosing, and the fact that he actually came back.
The former fact, like it is for anyone who excels for the Pirates, was a foregone conclusion. The latter one was a legitimate surprise, and it cemented a rare bond between player and city.
McCutchen could have played elsewhere. As he’s proven thus far this season, he is still a very useful piece. He gets on base – you know, the fundamental goal of every plate appearance – better than all but a handful of players in the entire league. In fact, he’s 8th in the majors in that department, at just a touch below .400.
He’s attractive to the Rangers, who have the look of a serious, legitimate contender, because he is still good. That Texas has gotten poor production from the DH spot merely makes the match all the more logical.
Texas has an obvious need and it makes perfect sense that they’d have inquired about McCutchen, regardless of what their general manager says. It does Young no good to admit that his team is inquiring about a player; that hurts his leverage when it comes to acquiring McCutchen, or anyone else, for that matter.
So yes, McCutchen is obviously an attractive trade chip, and yes, the decision should be his. He’s done right by the Pirates this year. They have not held up their end of the bargain, displaying little-to-no urgency to bolster a team that had every opportunity to seize control of a mediocre division.
Whether or not McCutchen wants to chase a title, or is at peace with having had his best window pass by, or thinks that the Pirates can still contend (which suggests he plans on playing at least another year or two here), he’s done more good for them than they have for him. The least they can do is honor his wishes, whatever they are.
It’s of course worth noting that McCutchen has stated publicly that he wants to be with the Pirates, but also made it clear that whether or not he does is not entirely up to him.
There was another nugget from Morosi, by the way, that makes me hope McCutchen changes his mind about wanting to stay here for the rest of the season: Morosi thinks the Pirates could receive a prospect in the Top 80-120 range. Rangers farmhand Jack Leiter is MLB Pipeline’s 95th rated prospect. If he is correct, and the Pirates could get a guy like Leiter for a few months of McCutchen, then Ben Cherington should sit down at the McCutchen dinner table and convince Maria McCutchen to send her husband on the road for August, September and beyond.
That kind of return would be an absolute steal, and would be a win-win.
And you know what? McCutchen could just come back next year on another one or two-year deal. No one would begrudge him taking another run at a title, and the Pirates would potentially have picked up a player who could help them in their own quest to return to the postseason. That’s called a win-win.
Andrew McCutchen has done enough that the Pirates should abide by his wishes, whatever they may be. The more I think about the situation, though, the more I hope he decides he’s not quite ready to settle in as a permanent resident just yet.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Mueller: Pirates should respect McCutchen’s wishes, but trade may be win-win for both parties