Cutch is running it back one more time with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates announced Monday morning that franchise icon Andrew McCutchen will return for his 17th major league season. It will mark his 12th with the franchise that drafted him and where he spent the first eight years of his career and was a five-time All-Star who won four Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove and the 2013 NL MVP.
McCutchen agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal, a source confirmed to TribLive.
https://t.co/eOWQcHOoBUpic.twitter.com/V6w0N4fj2e
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) December 23, 2024
It is the third such deal between the Pirates and McCutchen, who signed as a free agent in January 2023 after a five-year hiatus that started with being traded to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Bryan Reynolds in 2018. He also played for the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. McCutchen has repeatedly said he wants to finish his career with the Pirates, who drafted him in the first round in 2005.
“I wanted to go home so hopefully I can just continue to finish strong in the season and be able to showcase that I can be capable and able to do it next year,” McCutchen said in September. “Because I can do it. It’s plain and simple. I said this earlier: If I don’t embarrass myself then I’m going to continue keep going and doing it and, if I get the opportunity, I’m going to.
“At the end of the day, that’s me personally, but I would love to win, too. I haven’t done that in a long time and I haven’t been in the playoffs in a while here and it would be nice to do it here and we’re a special group of guys. We’re a special team. It’s there. Just got to piece the puzzles.”
Source: He’s back. pic.twitter.com/I2FqZJA2l9
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) December 23, 2024
In 16 seasons, McCutchen has a career 49.3 wins above replacement, a .273/.367/.462 slash line with 429 doubles, 50 triples, 319 home runs and 1,095 RBIs. He ranks second among active players in walks (1,116) and third in home runs.
The 38-year-old designated hitter batted .232/.328/.411 with 18 doubles, 20 home runs and 50 RBIs in 120 games for the Pirates last season. It marked his 10th time with 20 or more home runs. McCutchen’s 235 homers as a Pirate trails Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente by five for third-most in franchise history.
McCutchen also has a chance to move into the Pirates’ top five in RBIs, where his 818 are 35 behind Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski, and could pass a pair of Hall of Famers in two other categories. McCutchen has 1,667 hits, which trails Arky Vaughan by 43; and his 818 walks trail Honus Wagner by 59.
“I think you’re talking about the best player in the history of the franchise over the last 30 years,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said in September. “I think it just speaks to how talented a player he is and has been throughout his career.”