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The Mets Have Spoken to the Pirates About Andrew McCutchen

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The Andrew McCutchen rumors were a rollercoaster ride. The offseason started with the possibility that he would be traded. That looked almost like a certainty at the start of the winter meetings. The Pirates came close to a deal with the Nationals, but that didn’t work out, and by the end of the winter meetings they announced they were keeping McCutchen. And that wasn’t even a definitive statement, since Neal Huntington left the comments open, saying they’d still listen, but weren’t shopping him.

It was clear that they weren’t actively trying to unload McCutchen. If that was the case, they could have traded him by now for a smaller return. There was even a vague rumor last week that they turned down a good package of prospects because it didn’t have MLB-ready players in the mix. The Pirates aren’t just looking for good players, they’re looking for good players who can help now. And if they don’t get that, it looks like they’re keeping McCutchen.

After the McCutchen rumors died down, I didn’t want to revisit the topic, mostly because it’s so exhausting. It’s an emotional drain, something I’ve written about a few times, where you have to weigh the business side of the game with the emotions of McCutchen being the face of the franchise. But it’s hard to ignore every single rumor. When teams want an outfielder, McCutchen is still going to be a player they look at.

The latest rumor comes from Ken Rosenthal, who reports that the Mets are looking for a center fielder and have spoken with the Pirates about McCutchen. Rosenthal notes that the discussions have been “off and on” and that there isn’t any momentum. He also lays out what would need to happen for a deal to work, and it sounds complicated:

**The Mets would have to trade both Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce. That might be difficult if you consider there are a lot of free agent hitters remaining on the market.

**They’d have to give the Pirates a young starting pitcher, and maybe even a right-handed reliever. It’s hard to say if this need would change following the signing of Daniel Hudson. If they didn’t need a reliever back, it might make things easier, since the Mets are also looking for a left-handed and a right-handed reliever.

So the Mets would need to trade two outfielders in order to make room for an outfielder, and would need to trade away from a position that they’re currently trying to boost. Rosenthal notes that the Mets finding a center fielder won’t happen easy, and might not happen at all. Even if they cleared those hurdles, there are other options on the market, although Rosenthal mentions a lot of them as not fitting what the Mets look for.

So the McCutchen rumors continue, but it’s much of the same. The Pirates aren’t shopping McCutchen, other teams are interested, and that’s about where it ends.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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