It’s been a while since I posted a blog that wasn’t about football (18 blogs in a row not counting that one where I ramble about everything). But that’s because of the inactivity around Major League Baseball this offseason. And while yes, the free agent market has been slower than it’s ever been in recent memory, there have been some solid trades. In fact, Gerrit Cole was traded to the Astros, something that I briefly touched upon after the initial trade fell through. Well now the Astros have an absolute MONSTER of a pitching rotation as they look even stronger than the team that just won the World Series. But that’s not what my blog is about. It’s about how the Giants are quickly trying to erase the memory of their disastrous 2017 campaign. Remember when I blogged about their acquisition of Evan Longoria and I mentioned how they had a pretty stellar infield but one of the worst outfields I’ve ever seen? Well they seem to have shored that up a bit as they acquired Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for prospects Bryan Reynolds (OF) and Kyle Crick (P). Reynolds was the #4 prospect in the Giants’ organization and Crick was 16th, according to MLB.com. McCutchen is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2018 season and will make about $14.5 million ($2.5M of which will be paid by Pittsburgh), so not much of a commitment there for the Giants.
San Francisco looks like they have no intention to rebuild after losing 98 games in 2017 and quite frankly I don’t blame them. There’s a lot of talent on this team, especially after their two most recent acquisitions and arguably the best manager in all of baseball in Bruce Bochy. Let’s take a look at what this lineup looks like now that McCutchen is in that outfield.
1. Andrew McCutchen-CF
2. Joe Panik-2B
3. Buster Posey-C
4. Evan Longoria-3B
5. Brandon Belt-1B
6. Brandon Crawford-SS
7. Hunter Pence-RF
8. Jarrett Parker-LF
9. Pitcher’s Spot
That’s suddenly a pretty potent lineup. Now yes, McCutchen has been on a downward trend the last few years, however he quietly had a pretty good 2017 season after a downright awful 2016. McCutchen hit .279 with 28 home runs, 88 RBI, a .363 OBP with a .486 SLG and was able to steal 11 bases and was worth a 3.7 WAR. Despite being 31, McCutchen can still play. Except centerfield, he is not a good centerfielder defensively. He has only had a DRS above 0 (league average) once in his entire career (he was worth 5 DRS in 2013). He got as bad as -28 DRS in 2016. In layman’s terms, that means opponents scored 28 more runs because McCutchen was in centerfield vs your average centerfielder. That was the worst in the Majors at any position. In 2017, he was -17. Maybe they’ll move him to left field and put someone like Gorkys Hernandez in center but as it stands right now, the Giants have a stellar defensive infield but an atrocious defensive outfield. So basically if you’re the Dodgers or Diamondbacks or any other team that’s going to contend with the Giants for a playoff spot, just hit the ball into the outfield and you’re good.
As for the Pirates, if they weren’t in full rebuild mode after they traded Gerrit Cole, they are now. It seemed like for a while they were flirting with the idea of rebuilding because McCutchen has been on the trading block for what seems like forever. Well the Pirates have finally gotten him out of town after he’s been the face of the franchise since he arrived in the league in 2009. Here’s what the Pirates look like without Cutch.
1. Adam Frazier-LF
2. Josh Harrison-2B
3. Starling Marte-CF
4. Josh Bell-1B
5. Gregory Polanco-RF
6. Francisco Cervelli-C
7. David Freese-3B
8. Jordy Mercer-SS
9. Pitcher’s Spot
Adam Frazier is essentially the guy that will replace McCutchen in the Pirates lineup. He was their DH on Opening Day when they took on the Red Sox in an American League park so it’s not like this is some kind of culture shock for the Pirates. He hit .276 in 121 games played last year, however it was a LOT of singles, as his SLG was only .399 and he only walked about 7.9% of the time. But the guy is a competent option for the Pirates at the top of their lineup. He could serve as a segue for Austin Meadows, their top prospect who happens to play the outfield. Pittsburgh likes him a lot and there have been times where they’ve made it known that Meadows is off limits in any proposed trade. He’s only 22 and currently at AAA, where he struggled some in 2017 so it might be another year before he’s ready for the Majors. However if he flips a switch and starts torching minor league pitching, we may see him in the Pirates lineup by the end of 2018. It could also be a segue for the newly-acquired Bryan Reynolds in the long run, who played extremely well in High-A ball.
One might also have to wonder if this could be Clint Hurdle’s final year at the helm of the Pirates. Since losing the Wild Card game to the Cubs in 2015 after a 98-win season, the Pirates have gone 153-171 and continue to trend in the wrong direction. What’s also common with rebuilds is the organization typically cleans house and Hurdle may be next on the chopping block, though I doubt he’ll have trouble finding another managerial job because he’s amongst the best in the game. He led the Colorado Rockies of all teams to a World Series appearance in 2007 in one of the most exciting runs in recent memory and was a catalyst in bringing the Pirates out of the depths of Hell. People tend to forget due to their recent success that the Pirates had 20 losing seasons in a row from 1992-2012. Hurdle was the guy who got them out of that mess with the help of guys like McCutchen. However no playoff success has come their way as they never won their division, playing in the Wild Card game 3 straight years, going 1-2 and never having gotten out of the NLDS. Some team that is struggling will likely look to get him should the Pirates let him go because he’s brought two organizations out of mediocrity already. Perhaps the Padres or Rays, should either team struggle in 2018 (which I expect to happen). But this smells like the end of the line for Hurdle in Pittsburgh.
So we’ve finally got some moves in baseball worth blogging about. Still waiting on that free agent class to get their shit together, though. Let me know what you think of the McCutchen trade and the Giants’ chances this year in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10 and contribute to my Patreon.
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