San Francisco Giants: Could Andrew McCutchen be an Option?

With just about everyone taking a shot at prying away Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates, could the San Francisco Giants land the center fielder?

The San Francisco Giants are in need of another outfielder, and one of the best in the game is apparently available for trade.

After a somewhat down year in 2016, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to move Andrew McCutchen who just hit .256 and 24 home runs last year. The home runs were right on par with his career average, but he was nearly 40 points below his career batting average.

He has just one year left on his contract for $14 million, and then a team option for 2018 at $14.75 million with a $1 million buy-out, so he’s not terribly expensive.

A lot of teams have called in on McCutchen, but it seems like the Pirates are waiting on a deal that blows them away. The Pirates are still a playoff contender in 2017, so they would want major league ready talent in any trade for McCutchen.

And then of course they could always hold onto McCutchen and then ship him off during the season if they’re not in contention. Then you run the risk of his slump continuing and his value dropping even more.

Many teams aren’t going to be willing to pay a hefty a price for McCutchen when he’s coming off his worst season in the big leagues and is coming up on his age 30 season.

So are the San Francisco Giants a fit for McCutchen?

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As with any deal, it depends on what the price tag is.

I think McCutchen would do great in San Francisco where he won’t be the only star on the team, and some of the pressure will be alleviated from his shoulders. A change of scenery could do him a lot of good.

He immediately makes the Giants World Series contenders and lengthens this lineup even more.

Possible Lineup:

1. Span
2. Pence
3. Posey
4. McCutchen
5. Belt
6. Nunez
7. Crawford
8. Panik
9. (Pitcher)

The lineup would be a little right-handed heavy in the middle, and left-handed heavy at the bottom, but you can’t deny that it’s a scary lineup.

The problem would be trying to convince the Pirates that they don’t need major league talent in return. I don’t think it’s worth doing the deal if you have to give up Denard Span in the trade. That still leaves us with a hole in the outfield, and without a true leadoff hitter.

It might take a Tyler Beede and Bryan Reynolds package to get McCutchen, and I’m not sure if the San Francisco Giants are willing to pay that price.

In the end, I don’t think the San Francisco Giants are a fit for Andrew McCutchen. The front office would have to get very creative to make this deal a possibility.

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I would love to see it happen – at the right price – and it’s definitely worth exploring. Hopefully the front office is at least kicking the tires.