Andrew McCutchen said multiple times throughout the 2023 season that he didn’t intend to play anywhere other than Pittsburgh for the remainder of his career, and that’s exactly where he’ll be in 2024. The Pirates announced Wednesday that they’ve re-signed the franchise icon to a one-year deal contract for the upcoming season. McCutchen, a client of Aegis Sports Management, will reportedly be guaranteed $5MM. A corresponding move will be announced “at a later time,” the team said in this morning’s press release.
It’s a reunion that has long been expected, given not only McCutchen’s vocal stance on the matter but also comments from general manager Ben Cherington indicating the Pirates wanted McCutchen back and planned to discuss a new contract in the offseason. Since Cutch suffered a partial tear of his Achilles in September, the club appeared to want to see how his rehab progressed before making things official, but reporting from last week suggested the two sides were starting to accelerate talks.
McCutchen, 37, isn’t the MVP-caliber performer from earlier in his career but can still swing it. He signed a one-year, $5MM deal to rejoin the Pirates for 2023, hitting 12 home runs and drawing walks in 15.9% of his plate appearances. His .256/.378/.397 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 115, indicating he was 15% better than the league average hitter overall. He also still flashed a bit of baserunning prowess, stealing 11 bags in 14 tries.
Defensively, he was almost exclusively a designated hitter, spending just 64 2/3 innings in right field. He is likely to be in a similar role this year, having returned via the same $5MM deal that he signed a year ago. The Pirates will likely be delighted with a comparable performance but are surely also signing McCutchen for leadership and veteran presence, as well as being a treat for fans. Jack Suwinski and Bryan Reynolds will likely have two everyday spots in the outfield locked down. Edward Olivares, Joshua Palacios, Connor Joe and others should be battling for playing time in one corner, though McCutchen will perhaps jog out to the grass from time to time.
The season-ending injury forced McCutchen to miss the last few weeks of the 2023 campaign, with his last appearance coming on September 4. That kept him from hitting his 300th career home run during the campaign, as he’s currently parked on 299. But he should have plenty of opportunities to hit that milestone next year, which will appropriately come in a Pirates’ uniform. From 2009 to 2017, McCutchen was a five-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove in 2012 and National League MVP in 2013.
The heyday of McCutchen coincided with the club’s last competitive window. They made the playoffs in three straight years from 2013 to 2015 but haven’t been back since. The 2023 campaign featured an encouraging record of 76-86, still below .500 but their best finish since 2018. If the club’s young core is able to take a step forward and return to the postseason, then McCutchen could be a nice throughline connecting the two eras of baseball in Pittsburgh.
Roster Resource now pegs the club’s 2024 payroll at $70MM, just a bit below last year’s Opening Day figure of $73MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. General manager Ben Cherington has suggested that the payroll could push upwards next year, though it’s unclear exactly how far they are willing to go. In the post from Mackey linked above, he hints that the club may be making an addition to its pitching staff soon, likely via trade.
Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement and the terms.
Andrew McCutchen in a Pirates uniform reminds me that there things that are right in the world.
I vividly remember his very first AB at the home opener last year when his name was announced, he received a several minutes standing ovation from the sold out crowd
Even with the new rules in place, the home plate Umpire allowed Cutch to acknowledge the crowd.
Cutch’s eyes were red from tears of joy for the gratitude of the fans
It was a very touching tribute to this Pittsburgh icon
He always demolished my favorite team’s pitching, yet it’s impossible for me not to like him.
yeah, as Red Sox fans we never played him much but you gotta let love that dude, such a class act, I’ve always had nothing but respect for him
Agreed. Happy to see him back.
“right in the world” indeed. One of my favorite players in MLB, a Clemente Award winner, a pillar of the community.
Every stat is made up.
BA is much less useful than OBP or SLG
RBI and runs are team-, era-, and ballpark dependent
SB without CS isn’t very useful
Cheap deal
MLB needs more Cutches and Tim Wakefields (RIP) where they love where they play and take a below-market salary to stay with the team / city they love.
Cutch left for 6 years and played for like 4 other teams.
He was on a below-market deal and got traded to play for a contender, then was not offered a contract prior to last season. Are you suggesting that he really wanted to leave/play elsewhere, when he didn’t really get an opportunity to return to Pittsburgh until last year? My memory is that he jumped at the chance, and is again taking a below-market deal to play here again next season.
Cutch was traded for Reynolds and after the first year away got a sweet deal from the Phillies for $50M for three years.He got injured his first year half way through it and has not been quite the same since.
It was the normal scheme of small market teams trading good players a year or two before free agency.The Pirates could not justify paying that much money to an early 30’s outfielder with declining skills.
Did you watch him play last season? He’s also 37 years old. He had no choice but to take the deal.
Dude, you’re such a drain. Can’t you just stop with the jabs and let the Pirate fans enjoy one positive thing?
I did. He provided more than fair value. How was your year? Were you 15% better that all others in your profession? And liked and respected by colleagues?
You’re worthy of my use of the mute feature, Darren
My dog, who obviously doesn’t have the ability to speak in human language, has more of my respect than you
Consider yourself muted
@TheMan 3 The Mute button is an extremely underrated, extremely underutilized feature of this site.
The Andrew McCutchen of features, if you will.
yeah, I agree with assdribble, quit being a dick dude
MLB needs more team owners willing to pay to keep players with the team, and a tax structure that encourages it (luxury tax exemptions and maybe even revenue sharing help for retaining homegrown players)… not more players donating money to billionaires out of sentiment.
Degrom’s deal was a good one for one entity-DeGrom.
@Mendoza Line 215 Probably so. I don’t expect deGrom to be worth $60m a year the last 3 years of his deal (why, oh why did Texas not insist on a ‘miss a full season, you owe us a $1 season’ clause else it’d walk?***), and his woes aren’t limited to what TJS repairs, but I wouldn’t entirely surprised if he came back and gave Texas three useful seasons before the deal expired.
***Imagine the Mets with a 3/135m deGrom on the shelf for 2023-2024 in addition to their other absurdities. People assert Cohen did well to miss out on deGrom, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. 3/135m was ludicrious. 5/185m was insane—distinctly odd that a strong Texas team would gamble on deGrom when it didn’t need to.
Cutch going back home!
Congrats!
For Degrom, Cutch’s agreed upon salary was what HE offered, not the other way around
He initiated the process last year, calling the owner to say he wanted to return to the Pirates with an accepted contract of $5 million
One thing I hate about people that enjoy insulting the Bucs desire to offer lower salaries, is the ignorance of their knowledge
1 homerun away from 300. An excellent career.
I wonder how long he will play after hitting that milestone. Curious if he plays out the whole season. Id guess he probably does.
Might be back next year if he is healthy enough. Seems he will play as long as health allows. Won’t play unless it’s at a above average level.
Considering he’s repeatedly said that he wants to play for a few more years, I would say that unless he doesn’t hit a home run at all in 2024, he will kept at his word
SMH
He can want to keep playing all he wants. Father time is undefeated. He was above average last year but couldnt finish the season due to injury. I like the guy, but again, he’s getting older. The game will pass him by. SMH.
Good for Cutch and the Pirates.
How’s a guy gonna live on $5M with today’s inflation?
Cutch’s net worth is in the neighborhood of several million dollars
I think he’ll survive
And who money hungry greedy player are you in disguised under the username Old York?
Will live on the interest of it if he is smart.
Jerry Reinsdorf and Bob Nutting? Really?
Sean Cohen is great! He like Steve Cohen, but with a thin, evil mustache…and no professional sports franchise.
Trout2x4, sounds like you are in support of the lizard people, or you’re Angel Hernandez. Or both!
To prove you aren’t, please send naked pictures of your mom to Tim Dierkes.
I support you sparing us and finding another hobby
so you basically just hate baseball?
What a bargain price for a bargain player
What’s that bring the payroll to $71M? Give me Sean Manaea at 2/$20M and Adam Frazier at 1/$8M and you’re still under $90M. Please Bob.
Feeling a controllable starter through trade or dark horse signing is the Cuban maybe. Hopefully alittle left over to bring in some relatable BP help Plenty still out there
I want Frazier back just for Brown’s HR call.
I want Brown gone for Brown’s HR calls. Dude is awful.
THE absolute worst. Greg Brown has ruined more Pirates games than inclement weather…
I’ve wanted Manaea and/or Montas with Pittsburgh for a while. Adam Frazier return would be cool too.
Pass on Frazier, even for half of that. Manaea could have made more than that by exercising his option. I suspect there is a still a pitcher to be acquired, I would be quite surprised if that pitcher were anything other a bounce back candidate with perhaps some kind of option year attached.
They’ll probably land somewhere around $80-85M, but at this point it’s a waiting game while players weigh their options – who is offering the best role/opportunity to build value, who is paying the most, who is offering the most term – that kind of thing. We’d all love the roster filled and set and so would the Pirates, it just doesn’t happen overnight.
Listening to the Fan this afternoon, they mentioned something about BC being interested in an Oakland A’s pitcher but didn’t get the name
@the man 3
I’d be guessing it’d be Paul Blackburn. Probably the only remaining A’s pitcher we’d actually be able to trade…
Unless he has 2 years left before hitting free agency, he’s not the pitcher
Cherington wants one that is under control for 2-3 years
I still want Manaea or Montas or trade for Edward Cabrera or another young starter. Glad the Pirates were active but not many of these guys will make a difference.
They already have 4 Frazier’s for minimum wage.
Adam Frazier??? Lmao
More second basemen!!!!
Only have five
Need at least 10!!!!!
Andrew was having a pretty good season up until he got injured, so he might put up some nice numbers again this season. Good move on Pirates part.
In 473 PAs he put up .256/.378/.397 for a 113 OPS+ and 1.5 bWAR purely on the bat. Yeah, he’s not a star anymore, but he could find a roster spot on plenty of teams still. He has a great eye and will no doubt continue to walk at a monster clip.
He’s an analytical star.
He was also paid 5M in 2023 by PIT — interesting that he had his best offensive season since pre-pandemic and didn’t get a raise, which leads me to believe this is pro bono work. Kudos to peanut butter finding its jelly.
It pretty much is pro-bono. He really does love the community here, and how couldn’t you with how much they love him. He did the impossible and made the bucs relevant for a few years.
That was a fine team put together by your namesake and Cutch was not the only good player on it.
@Mendoza agreed, that was a genuinely good team for a few years. Bad teams don’t win 98 games, but Cutch was the face of that team each year.
Agreed,but I think that we both would like to find pro bono work for $5M a year!
He may be able to get more than that now but not too much more.
But he was the BEST player on it
Interesting how those people who don’t know the history of this player and ownership run their mouths without knowing the facts
Paul-Darren is just a troll trying to get rises out of Pirate posters.
He’s coming back from injury. DH only other than a few cities. How much more would he get? Probably not enough to go through the hassle of moving. Definitely not enough to make up for hurting his Pittsburgh legacy.
Honestly a good value. Slight under pay- if he was at the height of his career and trying to max out his salary, he probably could have argued for 1 year/$10M, but $5M to keep playing basically for fun is a great deal for both Cutch and the Bucs.
Cutch lives in Pittsburgh year round, his wife is originally from the area, he’s a pillar for the community, he’s happy to be back and it was his offer to the owner that brought him back
It might seem to be an underpay but it was his offer not the owner’s
He could have gotten $6.5 for a one-year deal in terms of what he was worth last season, maybe a 2-11.5M if someone were to offer him a couple of years. If someone were desperate, they might have offered him $8M, I feel like that would have been a starting point for luring him back out of home. I get the feeling that this could be his victory lap, honestly.
The problem is that he is getting hurt more on a repetitive basis and that is never a good sign for a 38 year old player.
But they didn’t lure him back, he called Nutting. personally and offered to return to the Bucs, even suggesting he’d accept a salary of $5 million dollars
That is awesome. I truly hope he gets to play as long as he can continue and do it in a Pirates uniform.
What do you guys think? HOF or no? I think with 300+ homeruns, he’s borderline and probably gets in several years down the road. Not trying to upset anyone with this question or spark a lot of arguing, just curious what people’s takes are.
might be a little short on counting stats but if he’s productive for another 4 years that could change
The only chance Cutch has is if he somehow leads the pirates back to the World Series. Not impossible, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If he gets in, it would be a narrative decision based on what he did for a specific team.
WC-Cutch would join the Hall of Very Good players in an instant.
I would give him the benefit of the doubt but he is not an all time great player.
Only hall of fame that matters is mine. Don’t think I have him in yet.
The other hall of fame seems like a no as of now. Not enough elite years. If he can play another 2 or 3 seasons I think he will get in both halls.
If he could have 2 or 3 elite seasons he would be making more than $5M a year.
You’re not suggesting he won’t have 2 or 3 elite seasons going forward are you?
If you compare what Cutch has accomplished to Jim Rice’s career numbers, a case could be made that Cutch should be in. Rice has more homers, but Cutch stole more bases. If Cutch can play long enough to hit another 30 homers, it’s close enough, for me at least, I could see him going in.
Jim Rice’s induction is what creates the question for me too.
If he gets in then Dick Allen should (yes I know Allen was primarily an infielder).. I have as much respect and admiration for Cutch as I do for any player but nothing about his stats really jump out at me, he’s well under the .300/.400/.500 threshold and it’s not like he has a case full of gold gloves to make up for it. I hate making arguments like this about players I genuinely like.
I mean, I think Dick Allen should be in. I put high value on awards/accolades and counting stats though.
I completely get the other side of the argument. Cutch has been good, bordering on great- but he doesn’t have that one stat that grabs your eye. As I mentioned earlier, I think the induction of Rice lowers the bar, though. You compare them side-by-side, there’s not a ton of difference. One could make a strong argument Rice shouldn’t be in, but that train has already left the station. Two more solid years for Cutch, it’s going to be hard to say he doesn’t deserve a spot in Cooperstown alongside Rice.
As it should be
This is such a massive underpay that Cutch will regret this contract in August! Why did Cutch sell himself short and not involve a second team for his services? Has he not taken a look at his own stats to determine self-worth? This is a travesty contract!!!
/s
He and his family have lived in Pittsburgh for a while.theyre dug in. He’s made enough for several lifetimes.
People refuse transfers all the time.
“/s” = It’s a joke. I don’t have one bad thing to say about Cutch. He’s one of my fav players hands-down.
YBC- Clearly a joke but Pirate fans take all postings seriously.
Yankees added the s/ at the end of his comment to indicate sarcasm
Whose had the better career Longoria or McCutchen?
As a huge pirates fan, I’d still say Longoria was more valuable
Close tho, both meant a ton to their respective franchises.
Whoever made the most $ had the best career. So probably Longoria. Baseball value wise it’s Cutch.
Longoria is 43rd in history with 1,696 strikeouts and Cutch has 1,642. It’s a race! Difference is Longoria’s been on paid vacation for several years.
BUCS 40 man now at 42.
They could’ve made the cutch signing anytime.
I smell a trade coming
Sniff
Sniff
Maybe, there are still a couple of guys who could be dropped without hurting the team’s depth that much. They’ll have room in another 6 weeks or so when they can put a few guys on the 60-day, those spots are probably for roster cuts – the team has done fairly well at finding a few relievers (Borucki and Perdomo) off the scrap heap.
They will need another spot if they sign anyone else, and in that respect, I agree, a trade seems more likely.
Pundit-It certainly begs the question why Cheng was promoted when he was unless he is one of the players being offered in trade.The only other player who could go is Selby and hope other teams do not see his potential.He started going downhill once they began starting him.
This evening on the Fan, Jasom Starkey of the PG said that BC hopes to make a trade for a pitcher who has 2-3 years of control in exchange for a few of the younger players currently on the roster
CSN Selby Kranick Falter all options. My guess CSN goes. Falter safest pitcher.
Or maybe Selby is safest. Hard choice. I figured keep the lefty over Kranick but he isn’t someone I want to kick to the curb. Selby has a lot of potential if they can teach him some control.
Maybe 2 position players. Bae is expendable. Even Palacios.
Cutch could have easily been signed at the end of ST when the three pitchers and the catcher go on the 60 day injured list,two for the year.
It will be interesting to see if they reduce the roster by trading three young players for a bona fide starter like they did with Archer.If so,hopefully the results turn out a lot better than that trade.
Or just dfa csn and a dime a dozen pitcher.
The pirates are trying to out “age” the penguins. “You think you’re old? Check this out”
It only turned out well for the 1983 Phillies and the “Wheeze kids “.
Yeah that’s looking pretty dumb
Wondering if they waited to announce this so late to get enough time to work out some sort of trade for a guy they may drop from the 40 man?
CSN en route to Chicago for Cease. Morosi had it first.
One of my favorite players and I’m not even a Pirates fan. He deserves to retire as a Pirate. Congrats to Pirate fans and best wishes to Andrew for great success
(Points to Pete)
“He gets on base”
Great to have Cutch at least one more season
He’ll be an interesting hall of fame question. Lots of great reasons for a yes, but I could see either way.
He’s going to fall short.
Hitting another HR to get into the 300 range will help with the traditional numbers crowd, and adding another 1.5 rWAR takes him to 50 and the lowest-wrung of the HOF discussion ladder. He’s already there with fWAR. He was a league MVP and was regarded as one of the best players in the game for about five seasons, meaning he was more than a compiler. That will count with some voters. The downside is the last eight seasons have been solid but not great and that memory may influence voters.
He’d help his case with another 10 WAR before he calls it quits. A 60 WAR player gets a more serious look.
He’s not going to make it by the looks of it.
@momTurphy This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the requirements for the Hall. McCutchen is a fine player who will get three votes for the Hall his first year of eligibility then disappear permanently from the ballot.
My hope with players like him is that he’s sits around 10-15% for all 10 years so people talk about him every year even if he doesn’t make it. Definitely an underrated player.
as it should, he’s a guy who just doesn’t look right in another team’s uniform, congrats cutch and pirates fans
WAR, what is it good for….
Absolutely nothing, listen to me……..
@HALfromVA
If evaluating whether you’re better than a minor leaguer makes sense, then I guess it’s worth something but for the most part, it’s not worth much. I prefer to look at WAA or Wins Above the Average player in the MLB.
I was really hoping the Braves coulda swung a deal at the deadline last year so he had a chance to make a run for a ring but the injury stopped those plans.
Not many guys from other teams I like but Cutch I really respect. He always played the game the right way and has always been an upstanding citizen.
A true role model.
Good for him and good for Pittsburgh.
Next stop Cease. If they get him, that would put this team in a wildcard.
That is interesting. They would be a great under the radar team to snatch up a Cease.
I wonder who the White Sox would want from them to make it happen.
Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester, Bubba Chandler, and a 11-30 ranked prospect or two. Lonnie White Jr. or Shalin Polanco come to mind. White just had a fully healthy season and could creep into top 100 mid-season, and Polanco is showing up well and is super young.
If it’s pitching then instead of those two maybe Hunter Barco or Harrington.
#300 as a walk off on Opening Day would be the greatest HR in Pittsburgh since Maz’s shot vs Evil Empire in ‘60.
I’m officially speaking it into existence!
Let’s Go Bucs!
Definition of a legend
.
a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated.
“the legend of King Arthur”
I was watching channel 2 today. They were announcing Cutches signing. They said the pirate legend.
First off I love cutch. I think he’s one of the greatest pirates. But not a legend. Clemente,Aaron,Mays, Gehrig,Ruth. Those are legends.
Now the nerds who invented thr analytics crap. Shove the ANAL lyrics. All nonsense. As an older pirate fan from 1965, give BA, RBI, HR, HITS stolen bases. Got pitchers it’s wins and losses. ANAL lyrics is the same as AI, artificial idiocy.
So welcome back Andrew and let’s go BUCS