San Francisco Giants: Why Andrew McCutchen Needs to Go

With the news that Andrew McCutchen has officially been placed on waivers by the San Francisco Giants, here is why he needs to go.

I love Andrew McCutchen as much as anyone else. I think he is a good player, not great, at this point in his career. But I do think he is a great clubhouse guy for the San Francisco Giants.

Having said all of that, there is no reason for him to wear a Giants jersey for the next month and a half.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported that he “has been placed on revocable waivers,” and like him, I also think he will be with another team by the end of the week.

Here are four simple reasons why he needs to go.

1. He deserves to play for a winner: Like I said, I think Andrew McCutchen is a great guy, and I want to see him win. I know he was part of some good teams in Pittsburgh, but hopefully, he can be traded to someone like the Cleveland Indians who actually have a chance to win a World Series.
2. Salary Relief: This part is actually two-fold, but the Giants would save around $4 million this season by moving McCutchen, which would safely put them under the luxury tax threshold that they’ve been desperately trying to avoid. And with that, you can call up the …
3. Young Players: With the extra salary relief, you can add some young guys to the 40-man roster and not worry about going over the luxury tax. Specifically, in the outfield, we need to see what we have out there as we look to rebuild or retool. There are already some young guys on the roster like Austin Slater and Steven Duggar that I would love to see get more playing time. That can happen a lot easier with McCutchen gone.
4. Get Something: There is zero chance the Giants resign McCutchen, so if you don’t trade him now you get nothing. You most likely aren’t going to give him a qualifying offer. And even if they do, it wouldn’t net a very high pick — maybe between rounds two and three. At least if you trade him now you get salary relief for this season, and maybe a B-level prospect in return.

It takes at least two to tango, so there will need to be a team interested enough in McCutchen to trade for him. The two most obvious ones that Baggarly mentions are Colorado and Cleveland.

We’ll see what happens this week, but I would be shocked and a bit disappointed if McCutchen is still with the team a week from now.