Even if he has little left, he's welcome back in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates have collected a lot of guys with overlapping functions - Andujar, Choi, Santana, Joe, now McCutchen.

Is it too cynical a take to suggest that the appeal to nostalgia is meant to distract from the cruddiness of the team?

Is it too cynical a take to suggest that the appeal to nostalgia is meant to distract from the cruddiness of the team?

I WILL TAKE IT. THIS BRINGS ME SO MUCH JOY

Yeah I'm not sure this is a celebration or more like a yellow highlighter of what a shitty organization this really is.

Oh come on. It's an organization bringing back a beloved player for their final go-round. Griffey with the Ms, Pujols with the Cardinals, Torii Hunter with the Twins. It doesn't really say anything about the organization although, sure, the team is probably not at a competitive peak.

And who exactly was under the impression the 2023 Pirates were going to be a good team before this signing?

Agree. Can't complain about a good guy going home for the twilight year(s). It might get awkward if he plays well and gets dumped at the deadline tho.

It doesn't really say anything about the organization although, sure, the team is probably not at a competitive peak.

Yeah you're right. They really need to trade Brian Reynolds at the deadline for spare parts to really make a statement.

It's interesting, my reaction was the opposite of Russ's--this makes me very sad. McCutchen was a great player and is a great person. He deserved better than to have his baseball career end in Pittsburgh.

It reminds me of how shitty this organization really is:

couldn't build a team around an MVP level player;
Clint Hurdle's idiotic strategy of beaning people ends up getting Cutch hit, Cutch was never the same;
didnt even give a crap to pay Cutch to stay when he was still useful.

Cutch LOVED Pittsburgh - and Pittsburgh loved him right back.

I suspect he's very happy about this reunion - so why feel sad about that?

SS ... what's the issue? Would the Pirates be a classier, better-run organization if they'd told McCutchen to take a hike last week?

Regardless, for the entirety of baseball history, teams -- good and bad, well-run and poorly-run -- have regularly shown a willingness to bring back popular players for a swan song. The Pirates are a shitty organization;** the Pirates made a move that was so obviously a good idea that even a shitty organization couldn't resist it. If anything, bringing McCutchen back gives some hope the Pirates aren't complete morons.

** As shown by a sub-400 WP each of the last 3 "years" and not so good in 2019 and looking quite bad for 2023. Of course they had a decent 6-year run before that ... built around MVP-caliber Andrew McCuthen on an arb/FA extension.

everybody loves cutch, right? just seems like a great dude

Cutch LOVED Pittsburgh - and Pittsburgh loved him right back.

That's why they traded him rather than paying him fairly?

Walt, I love Cutch as much as anyone, but how does signing a 36 year old, barely-above-replacement level corner outfielder demonstrate the Pirates aren't morons? It's exactly what they've been doing most offseasons since the days when Derek Bell walked the Earth.

I'm pretty sure Howie means the city, not the team

Oh come on. It's an organization bringing back a beloved player for their final go-round. Griffey with the Ms, Pujols with the Cardinals, Torii Hunter with the Twins. It doesn't really say anything about the organization although, sure, the team is probably not at a competitive peak.

If the Pirates were a truly sh1tty organization, they wouldn't have bothered to shell out $5 million to bring him back.

SS ... what's the issue? Would the Pirates be a classier, better-run organization if they'd told McCutchen to take a hike last week?

No. As I said, its a REMINDER of how effed up this organization really is.

As I recall it, Cutch made some mildly critical comments about the organization during last run for a wild card 2017, near the trade deadline. And then they traded him during that winter. which again calls to mind how petty and cheap this organization is.

They actually won that trade getting Brian Reynolds and one decent season out of Kyle Crick.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports today that McCutchen contacted Bob Nutting last week, and indicated his desire to finish his career in Pittsburgh. Nutting raised the question with Ben Cherrington who talked with McCutchen about the role he would play on the team and got the deal done.

I'm cynical enough to read that piece of news and assume it means McCutchen's agent couldn't drum up anything better than an NRI or a $2 million plus unlikely incentives kind of deal from anyone else.

The fans in Pittsburgh really did love Cutch, in a way they haven't loved anyone since Stargell. But he may be surprised at how many fewer of them there are now than in 2016.

Paste is spot on about declining attendance in BuccoLand.
The Steelers and Penguins own the fan base in the Burgh, not the Pirates.
Beautiful ballpark, convenient location, lousy on-the-field product.
With the current financial structure of MLB ongoing, I see no positive change in the Pirates future.
Oh well, at least when I drive back to see a game this year I have a chance of seeing Cutch play.

Which HBP made Cutch never the same?


There's a game in 2015 he left after getting hit but he ends up having a .901 OPS the rest of the way which qqs better than what he qas hitting before getting hit.