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Latest On Andrew McCutchen

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2:20pm: Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (on Twitter) that the Pirates asked the Nationals for both Lucas Giolito and Victor Robles but were (unsurprisingly) rebuffed. The Nats do have some questions about McCutchen’s potential decline and also his leadership, according to Biertempfel.

Meanwhile, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets that the Rangers also find the asking price on McCutchen extremely high, as they’ve been asked for an established starting pitcher and additional prospect value in return.

12:39pm: The Rangers have been in “frequent” contact with the Pirates about McCutchen, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. A deal between the two sides is possible but not close at this time, he adds. Heyman adds that he’s heard it’s “not likely” that the Rangers would actually meet the Pirates’ asking price, though. Additionally, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweeted earlier today that the Dodgers have made a recent inquiry on McCutchen as well.

11:10am: There’s a “mystery team” pursuing Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Pittsburgh is said to be looking for a taker for its longtime star.

To this point, the Nationals have been tied most closely to the former MVP center fielder. The Dodgers, too, have been mentioned recently as having interest, while the Rangers and Mariners have also been connected. But the other possible suitor is a team that hasn’t yet been publicly associated with the Bucs’ stalwart, per the report.

That leaves 25 other organizations that could conceivably have interest. A variety of teams — potentially including the Orioles, Blue Jays, Giants, Phillies, Mets, and Cardinals — might make some degree of sense, and surely there are others that could become involved in the right circumstances.

Nationals Attempting To Acquire Both Chris Sale, Andrew McCutchen

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7:22am: The Nationals regard Robles as an integral long-term piece and are unwilling to trade him for McCutchen, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. A deal could still happen in spite of that, Janes notes. Further, contrary to an earlier report, the Nats never planned to non-tender Espinosa.

12:02am: The Nationals have been linked to a pair of potential blockbuster deals with the White Sox for ace lefty Chris Sale and the Pirates for former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, though apparently in the Nats’ view, the possible trades aren’t an either/or proposition.  Washington think they have enough prospect depth to manage both trades, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link), and are trying to work out deals with Chicago and Pittsburgh.

While the Nationals have been no strangers to big moves over the years, landing Sale and McCutchen would be quite a coup for GM Mike Rizzo.  Doing so without trading Trea Turner (who the Nats have already balked at including in a Sale deal) would be more impressive, though Washington has several other strong young talents both in the minors and on the big league roster.

Lucas Giolito, Victor Robles, Reynaldo Lopez and Erick Fedde are each ranked within MLB.com’s top 100 prospects in all of baseball, while less-heralded but still notable youngsters like Dane Dunning, Carter Kieboom or Austin Voth would also draw trade interest.  There’s also A.J. Cole, a former top 100 prospect who hasn’t shown much in limited big league action, or perhaps hard-throwing reliever Trevor Gott.  Looking to the big league roster, McCutchen’s acquisition would push Turner back to shortstop and make Danny Espinosa expendable, while the Nats could also deal from the back end of the rotation and try to move Gio Gonzalez or a younger arm in Joe Ross.

There’s no shortage of interesting names in the Nationals organization to speculate about as trade chips, though it would seemingly take several of them to land both Sale and McCutchen.  (In fact, it’ll take several just to pry Sale out of Chicago given how the White Sox have a huge asking price on their ace.)  McCutchen’s price is lower due to his rough 2016 season, though the Pirates still want premium young talent in return.

Even if one or both of these trades don’t work out, anything seems on the table for the Nats at this point, given how they’ve also been linked to free agents like Dexter Fowler, Ian Desmond, Carlos Gomez and Mark Melancon.  Signing a free agent might be preferable than dealing away multiple young players, though at a greater financial cost than one guaranteed year for McCutchen and Sale’s team-friendly contract.

Nationals, Pirates Accelerating Talks On Andrew McCutchen

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DEC. 2: Talks between the Nationals and Pirates have continued into the morning, tweets Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates have been breaking down video footage of Nationals prospects this morning, he adds. The Nats remained “in the lead” for McCutchen as of late last night, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (on Twitter), though Morosi notes that the Rangers have been in contact with the Pirates about McCutchen as well.

DEC. 1: The Nationals and Pirates have “ramped up” their negotiations on a possible deal involving star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports. There are indications that the Nats would like to wrap up an agreement today; it seems the club may well non-tender shortstop Danny Espinosa if it adds McCutchen.

The connection between McCutchen and Espinosa involves Trea Turner, who could play either center or short. If Washington adds a new option in the outfield, Turner would surely move to his accustomed shortstop position, and the Nats would apparently not be interested in retaining Espinosa at a projected $5.3MM salary. (He could, of course, be traded.)

We’ve heard some chatter about possible pieces involved between these clubs, which reportedly explored a deal over the summer but couldn’t quite reach an agreement. The Bucs are said to be eyeing top outfield prospect Victor Robles, but it remains unclear whether the Nationals have any willingness to part with him. Stark notes that young, MLB-level pitchers such as Joe Ross and Reynaldo Lopez would hold appeal to Pittsburgh as well, and both (along with several other possibilities) certainly could be in play.

The Nationals would presumably utilize McCutchen in center, where he has long played in Pittsburgh. There were newfound questions about his ability to stick there after metrics panned his work in 2016, though perhaps Washington would only need to commit to him in center for a single season. Still, McCutchen isn’t quite as appealing an asset in a corner position, particularly given the risk that he doesn’t bounce back after a .256/.336/.430 year at the plate.

McCutchen also isn’t particularly cheap. With $14MM coming to him next season and a $14.5MM option for 2018, he’s hardly expensive. And that’s a pittance if he can return to his former superstar form. Having just turned 30, McCutchen represents a reasonable risk for a high-spending contender like the Nationals, though just how much willingness the team has to part with major young assets to take that chance remains to be seen.

Pirates, Nationals Discussed Andrew McCutchen Trade In July

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The Pirates and Nationals connected on a notable July trade that sent Mark Melancon from Pittsburgh to D.C. in exchange for Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that a second blockbuster between the two sides was also discussed at length. Pittsburgh and Washington talked about a potential trade that would’ve sent Andrew McCutchen to the Nationals according to Rosenthal, though the deal apparently crumbled because there were too many moving parts at play. He adds that top prospect Victor Robles was one Pirates target in the deal.

It’s unlikely that the talks are picked back up due to the fact that there’s a gap between how the Pirates view McCutchen and how the Nats view him, Rosenthal continues, though serious trade discussions involving the 2013 NL MVP do at least indicate that the Bucs could be open to moving him this winter.

McCutchen turned in what was far and away the worst season of his career in 2016, taking notable steps backwards in terms of his offense, defense and baserunning. The 30-year-old’s .256/.336/.430 batting line still checked in a bit above the league average, per park-adjusted metrics like wRC+ and OPS+, but McCutchen had batted at least .292 with an OBP of at least .400 in each of the four prior seasons. Meanwhile, he stole a career-low six bases and was caught seven times. And in center field, the once premium defender turned in awful Defensive Runs Saved (-28) and Ultimate Zone Rating (-18.7) marks, though Rosenthal hears that the Pirates believe his poor ratings are due to the fact that McCutchen was positioned too shallow for much of the season (a problem that Dexter Fowler recently cited when discussing his own defensive improvements).

It’s not entirely clear if the Pirates will look to move McCutchen this winter or if they’ll just opportunistically listen to offers, though the team does have a near-MLB-ready replacement in the form of top prospect Austin Meadows. But even if they don’t, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that his defensive shortcomings in 2016 could spell the end of his time in center field (Twitter link). Per Olney, the Bucs are considering a new outfield alignment that would feature Gregory Polanco in left field, Starling Marte in center field and McCutchen in right field.

If the Pirates do look to move McCutchen, though, there are undoubtedly a number of teams that would line up to take a chance on him returning to his previous heights. He’s owed a reasonable $14MM next year and also has a $14.5MM club option on his contract, which comes with a $1MM buyout. Even on the heels of a down season for McCutchen, the opportunity to acquire someone of his ceiling and owe him just a $15MM guarantee over one year (with a reasonably priced option for a second season) is intriguing for any club in need of outfield help. However, the challenge, as is the case when inquiring on any star-level player coming off a down season, will be agreeing on a price point. The Pirates almost certainly would value McCutchen at a very high level, but interested parties may be reluctant to pay a premium price for a 30-year-old that could be entering into a decline phase.

That disparity is highlighted by the package reported by Rosenthal; Robles currently ranks as the No. 10 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com, but Rosenthal notes that the Pirates weren’t keen on trading McCutchen for only one outfield prospect that has yet to play above Class-A. That’s certainly understandable, as it’s not uncommon at all for toolsy young outfielders to flame out, and being left with nothing to show for trading the face of the franchise would be a disastrous outcome.

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