McCutchen's debut was a catalyst for respectable baseball in Pittsburgh. He would blossom into a legit superstar and from all accounts an even better human being. He made baseball fun again in Pittsburgh. You would be hard pressed to find a bad word about him minus a few shock jocks in the local media. The guy named his kid Steel. He loved being a Pirate.
I could ramble on forever about trade value and give personal opinions, but ultimately the Pirates continued with normal operating procedures by trading Cutch. That reality is what makes this sting.
The culprit with the Pirates is the shoestring budget/ownership. In a perfect world Cutch would be a Pirate for life, but the Pirates have zero track record of signing players to long term deals post arbitration. Basically the main argument is whether you think the Pirates should have traded him now, at the deadline or qualifying offer/comp pick next season. The Pirates played it safe and chose now. We can vent about this until we are blue in the face, but it is done. Now what?.....
I'm not revoking my Pirate fan card. All I can do is hope that the Pirates develop the next Cutch. Life is too short to be bitter over billionaires disrespecting millionaires. As always I will be optimistic during opening day and let the season play out. It is just going to be really weird not seeing #22 in the outfield. Goodbye Cutch. Thanks for giving me so many great memories.
At least you didn't name your blog after him! ;-) Definitely sucks to see him go, and Cole too. I have a feeling your Pirates will be able to develop someone before long, though.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Brian from Collecting Cutch. He is likely in a dark place today.
DeleteI'm thankful that the Pirates got all of Cutch's prime years. Just sad to see your franchise player walk away for a AA player and a reliever. He just doesn't have that much trade value since he only has one year of control.
Cutch has been one of my favorite baseball players to watch over the past 6,7 years.
ReplyDeleteLike Tigers fans losing Verlander, whom we always thought would retire as a lifelong Detroiter, having your favorite player traded isn't easy.
The Pirates/Tigers series will most definitely be different in 2018.
The Tigers are going to be in a rough spot for a while. Don't think they will be able to get rid of the Miggy deal so hopefully some of the young guys develop fast and a core comes together that can compete.
DeleteNutting really needed to put some actual money into the team when it finally looked like they were legitimate contenders, but he didn't and the Pirates window of opportunity ended faster than it should've, which is a real shame.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the Pirates can rebuild a good system again, and hopefully they'll actually build around the prospects instead of just relying on them and them alone this time.
The year we won 98 games and still had to settle the wildcard was a tough one. You have to think one more piece would have put us over the top in the division. Three freaking wildcard games in a row
DeleteEndings always suck. But I'm so happy to be able to watch an amazing player through the prime of his career. Nine seasons is more than we've had with any star since Stargell.
ReplyDeleteHe was always too classy to say anything, but I think it was incredibly frustrating for Cutch to see the team continue to pass on any significant additions at both the trade deadline and offseasons during the brief window. With some different additions and if players like Polanco and Glasnow had developed anywhere close to as expected, we might be in a very different position right now.
For sure! Ultimately for the teams sake we got all the best years of Cutch on a team friendly deal. It was fun to watch him for so long.
DeleteI had mentioned to Zippy above that one more addition in the 98 win season may have helped get over the Cardinals to avoid the wildcard game. I'm happy we made the playoffs 3 years in a row, but like you said one more piece could have been enough.
Hate it for Buc fans! While I collect the Tigers, I've always been a player fan. Probably a good thing since they will stink for some time to come. Your optimism for the season is admirable!
ReplyDeleteThe fun part of being a fan is being completely irrational from time to time!
DeleteCutch and the Pirates are terrible division rivals because they are too easy to root for, as long as they weren't playing the Cubs.
ReplyDeleteBraun/Brewers, Yadi/Cardinals, Votto/Reds. Those are guys/teams that make the blood boil. Haha
As a Cubs fan, I dread the day Bryant's contract is up. My local team is the Nats and there's been buzz about Harper leaving for years, but he's fairly polarizing so not even really close.
The Pirates got lucky and were able to buy Cutch's first few years of free agency at a discount rate since he signed a pre breakout deal. Cutch would have been gone two years ago had this not happened. Bryant is breaking the arbitration system so god knows how much his contract will be. Harper is going to be the highest paid baseball ever after next year.
DeleteI actually like Votto. I feel like he is some kind of evil genius. He is a troll.
I'll second what Once a Cub said. I never had a problem with seeing the Pirates do well and Cutch was always one of my non-local faves. Nothing those awful Cubs and stupid Bryant who can never stop smiling ;)
ReplyDeleteI started to grow an irrational hate towards the Cardinals because during the last playoff runs the Pirates always finished behind the Cards. Damn wildcard game is the bane of my existence.
DeleteIt HAD to be the Giants.
ReplyDeleteBetween the Rich Hill no-hitter that wasn't and this, the Pirates could be taking a dip in the annual team ranking this year.
I'll write a piece for you on why they should stay. Just look at those great uniforms!
DeleteLike I told collecting cutch, this is a big reason when I decided to chase a pc player I chose one already past his prime in Rodney hampton. He will always be remembered as a NY Giant.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did my PWE arrive?
I got a few PWE's this week. I'm pretty sure I saw SCC on one of them. Thanks in advance. I don't normally open envelopes until I have time to scan them. I'll post in the coming days.
DeleteCutch will likely always be remembered as a Pirate so I'm not worried about that. The economics in baseball is built in a way that you really can't keep a player the life of his career.
I also told Collecting Cutch that it's really rare these days that a player spends his whole career with one team. Because of his likability, I rooted for Andrew to be one of those players. It'll be hard to get used to him in a Giants uniform.
ReplyDeleteI'll second that. I may be weird not seeing #22 in the Pirates outfield, but it'll be a complete shock to the system seeing him in someone else's OF.
DeleteI miss the days of players playing out their career with one team. It used to happen on a fairly regular basis, but now it's a true rarity. Jeter is the last one I can think of... and even he has switched teams after retirement!
I hope he has a big year in San Francisco and gets a nice payday from someone in 2019. I'm happy the Pirates got the prime years, thus he will always be remembered as a Bucco.
DeleteWho would have thought Jeter going to a new team after his playing days would hurt his reputation more than had he played shortstop for the Marlins!
DeleteIt's a damn shame - I've been waiting for the shoe to drop on a Dozier trade for a couple seasons now, and I remember when Johan Santana was traded and how bad that off-season was.
ReplyDeleteEven with this bad news, I think the Pirates have a chance to be a surprise team this year, and of course Bob Walk isn't going anywhere!
Yeah, I guess the Twins reluctancy actually paid off there since now they are a playoff team! Bob Walk has full no trade clause.....
DeleteNever though I'd see Verlander leave the Astros or Longoria leave the Rays, but the one that's going to stick with many people is definitely Cutch leaving the Pirates. He did some great things for the franchise. He's been one of my favorite players to collect for a while, and I am certain the Pirates will retire his number someday in the future.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knew this day was coming. People are fooling themselves if they thought Cutch was going to be a Pirate forever. For the Pirates the only argument is the very high possibility that ownership is not spending at a high enough level.
DeleteCutch's legacy is set as a Bucco. He is one of the all time best in a team rich with history.
Welcome to my world. At least the Pirates kept Cutch around for nearly a decade. I'm pretty sure Marcus Semien is the Athletics longest tenured player and he's only been around since 2015. With that being said, I was sad to hear about this trade. Like you mentioned in this post, he's a great human being and loved being a Pirate. The guys on the radio today were talking about his son's name and how classy he is. Like I said in other comments, he might still shine bright in SF, but he'll always be remembered as a Pirate.
ReplyDeleteThe A's are pretty much in their own league in terms of how they handle contracts. Even Billy Beane was quoted last year saying that the way they are made to do business just kills the fan aspect of the game. Part of the fun is rooting the players and when you trade most of them during the early years of arbitration that connection can never be made.
DeleteI was sad to see this. Cutch is a Pirate and always will be. One last time: Plunder the lox.
ReplyDeleteI hope he continues to be productive for a long time. Would love for him to get back on the Hall of Fame track. Needs a handful of big years. Either way I'm glad the Pirates got the prime years.
DeleteOne can say he is a solid good person, which seems to bet fewer in sports every year. Damn Giants
ReplyDeleteYeah....I'm sure it was a bitter pill for Cutch to swallow.
DeleteThis absolutely sucked! The face of our franchise for a middle reliever with control problems and a AA outfield prospect when we have 2 guys in the outfield in long term deals and our top position prospect being an outfielder. Uuuugggghhhh.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand the Cole deal. Maybe the execution of the type of players leaves something to be desired, but I get it. If Cole had continued being so-so at the beginning of the upcoming season then his value would have completely tanked.
DeleteThe Cutch thing is a little more frustrating. I totally get him not having a ton of trade value. Only has one one more year, defense etc.... The thing is if you say we are competing next year, 3 WAR outfielders don't grow on trees. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised, but I really see no scenario where this helps us in the short term.