Imagining an Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees Blockbuster

The Pittsburgh Pirates are rumored to be open to trading Andrew McCutchen this offseason to make room for prospect Austin Meadows. Should the New York Yankees make a run at the superstar outfielder?

While New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently said the team is likely to rely on its internal options to improve its offense in 2017, the front office would probably make an exception for extenuating circumstances like a true superstar in his prime becoming available.

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen probably still qualifies as that despite his down year. Before 2016, Cutch had finished in the top five of National League MVP voting four straight years, racking up an incredible 26.4 WAR during that span according to Baseball-Reference’s metric.

With McCutchen a free agent after next season, there have been reports that the Pirates will be taking offers on the 29-year-old this winter. Super-prospect Austin Meadows hit a combined .266/.333/.536 in the upper minors this year, and the Bucs already have Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco manning the outfield corners.

That said, the Pirates are not going to just give away one of the most popular homegrown players in franchise history because he had an off year. If no team is willing to meet their asking price, they are under no real pressure to move McCutchen, although the chances of low-budget Pittsburgh being able to re-sign him are slim.

New York has no shortage of outfielders, but none come close to what McCutchen can offer. As exciting as Clint Frazier is, basically the best case scenario is the he turns into Cutch a few years down the line.

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At the same time, McCutchen is a pure rental unless you New York is convinced they can extend him. The team would also have to be very convinced they have an explanation for Cutch’s poor performance this year if they are going to give up top talent for him.

In 2016, McCutchen hit a very pedestrian .256/.336/.430 (103 OPS+) in 675 plate appearances. He also had the worst defensive performance of his career with -2.6 dWAR. He reportedly was dealing with knee soreness in April and a nagging thumb injury in June, both of which he played through, so that may be the culprit behind his poor season.

It’s hard to believe a superstar of Cutch’s caliber would take this kind of nosedive before his age 30 season without injuries somehow being a factor. It’s possible the Yankees are satisfied by the Pirates’ explanations and what they see in his medicals to the point that they’re willing to meet their asking price, but honestly that’s probably a long shot.

If they were to make an offer, the starting point for one year of McCutchen would have to be two of the Yankees elite young talents. The team may be willing to surrender a package headed by Luis Severino and Jorge Mateo after disappointing seasons. It may sound like a lot, but consider how much the Cubs had to give up for two-plus months of Aroldis Chapman.

Andrew McCutchen would undeniably be an upgrade over Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury going into 2017, giving New York a legitimate superstar to pair with Gary Sanchez in the middle of the lineup next year.

From his comments Wednesday, however, Cashman doesn’t seem to feel like the rebuilding Yankees are one piece away from contention. Win-now moves are not the priority at the moment, so while it’s fun to imagine Cutch in pinstripes, I feel very confident saying it just isn’t going to happen.