Former Phillies Friday: Andrew McCutchen likely to generate buzz as trade target

The magic that existed when the Pittsburgh Pirates began the 2023 season by winning 20 of their first 29 games has worn off. Since the start of May, the Pirates are 20-38. Even in the lowly NL Central, the Pirates have a -43 run differential and find themselves 8 1/2 games back of the Cincinnati Reds.

Things could change with a strong week, but given that the Pirates have lost five of their first six games in July, they increasingly look like a team that should be sellers in advance of the Aug. 1 trade deadline. And former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen is perhaps the most intriguing trade candidate on Pittsburgh’s roster for a variety of reasons.

First of all, the former NL MVP is having a legitimately good season. In 74 games this season, McCutchen is slashing .268/.383/.425 with 10 home runs, 28 RBIs, 49 walks and an .808 OPS. He’s rebounded after a disappointing 2022 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the 1.2 WAR he’s posted in less than half of the 2023 season nearly matches the 1.6 WAR he posted in 144 games for the Phillies in 2021.

McCutchen is also an interesting trade candidate to monitor because he’s one of the best players in Pirates history, and his return to the place that he spent the first nine seasons of his career has been one of the best stories of the 2023 MLB season. It’s entirely possible that even if the Pirates don’t have much of a path to reaching the postseason, owner Bob Nutting and general manager Ben Cherington may decide that from a business perspective, they would like to retain McCutchen for the rest of the 2023 season and set themselves up to re-sign him for 2024.

Then again, there’s nothing precluding the Pirates from trading McCutchen to a contender now and then trying to bring him back in free agency in the offseason. And while McCutchen has played well enough this season to assure he’ll have chances to keep playing in 2024, he’s 36 years old and there’s no guarantee he’ll still be playing at this high of a level next year. He’s never been beyond the division series in his career, and hasn’t played in the postseason since his brief stint with the New York Yankees in 2018. A chance to chase an elusive World Series title may be too good of an opportunity for McCutchen to pass up, and presumably, the Pirates will respect his wishes if he’s interested in being traded.

As we outlined earlier this week, the Phillies do need to add another right-handed bat with pop as they try to make up for the loss of Rhys Hoskins to a torn left ACL late in Spring Training. But the timing probably isn’t right for a McCutchen reunion.

Assuming the Phillies plan to proceed with Bryce Harper at first base — at least on a part-time basis — after the All-Star Break, that will open up the DH spot for Kyle Schwarber. Given that Schwarber leads baseball with -18 defensive runs saved and -15 outs above average, the Phillies will seemingly benefit greatly from getting him out of left field some days. And when Harper isn’t playing first base, he’ll likely be back at DH, pushing Schwarber to left field.

Under that scenario, McCutchen or Schwarber would have to be out of the lineup when Harper is the DH, and the former would have to play left field when Harper is at first base and the latter is DHing. Though McCutchen had five defensive runs saved and two outs above average for the Brewers a season ago, he only played 268 1/3 innings in left field in 2022. In 2023, he’s been used almost exclusively a DH, with the exception of the 64 2/3 innings he has logged in right field for Pittsburgh. Him playing left field three or four days a week for the Phillies probably isn’t a great solution for anyone involved, nor would McCutchen probably want to sign up to be out of the lineup on days where Harper is DH and Schwarber is in left field.

Nonetheless, McCutchen is putting together his best season since 2019, when his first season with the Phillies was cut short after he tore his left ACL. If he wants to join a contender in the coming weeks, he’ll almost certainly have multiple opportunities to do so.

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