The Pirates have yet to approach center fielder Andrew McCutchen about a long-term extension, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Team president Frank Coonelly explained that while McCutchen is the type of player they'd want to lock up, "the earlier you go, the more risk you take on." McCutchen has only 108 big league games under his belt.
McCutchen told Kovacevic that "it would be cool" to sign a Justin Upton-like extension. But as the player noted, Upton has significantly more time in the Majors. I'm not sure he's the right comparable anyway.
McCutchen won't even be arbitration-eligible until after the 2012 season. The model for an extension might come from this group of signed center fielders: Grady Sizemore, Shane Victorino, Franklin Gutierrez, Curtis Granderson, Nate McLouth, Chris Young, and David DeJesus. How much will it cost the Pirates to buy out McCutchen's three arbitration years? That might depend on how much power he displays. But the players listed gave up their arbitration years at prices ranging from $8.1MM for DeJesus to $17.25MM for Granderson. Gutierrez, signed most recently, gets $11.5MM.
Kovacevic's article touches on McLouth, as the way he was extended and traded months later was not received well. Coonelly says that the team's actions will gain the fans' trust. He also said:
We can never say never, but I will say again that the days of us needing to move players in order to get multiple players in return to rebuild the system, those are over.
“McCutchen told Kovacevic that “it would be cool” to sign a Justin Upton-like extension. But as the player noted, Upton has significantly more time in the Majors. I’m not sure he’s the right comparable anyway.”
I like McCutchen but I seriously hope he doesn’t expect an Upton-like extension, especially from the Pirates. I could see an extension of 4-5 years, $25m or so as a possibility. However, if I were the Pirates GM, I would wait to see what he does this season.
McCutchen is going to be a star, and along with Pedro Alvarez they will have 2 all star players. I would rather wait until after the year to sign an extension. The kid has got so much talent and so much heart. I see him going. 300 AVG, 20 HR, 40 2B, 10 3B, 70 RBI, 100 R, 40 SB, .360 OBP, All Star, and a gold glove. I know you are all gonna say those are lofty expectations, but I have been watching this kid play since he was drafted. He is gonna be a super star.
This article was so premature and so unnecessary, and seemingly aimed at creating more hysteria amongst the faction of Pitt fans that are still scrambling to make sense of the McClouth trade.
There will come a day when the Pitt FO has to address how to ration out their $$ to their maturing “core” of young guys but seeing that they own McCutchen’s rights for 6 more years, I seriously question why that kind of consideration needs to happen today.
Of course it would be great to sign an Upton-like extension says the guy with only 108 games under the belt. I love watching ya, but you should worry about proving why you are worthy of an Upton-like extension.
Read the article. That’s exactly what McCutchen said. The media created this story not the players or front office.
That’s true…don’t hold it against McCutchen, he was asked specifically about Upton and his extension.
Haha. I like this guy – “it would be cool”.
Damn straight 51 million would be cool.