The New York Yankees acquired five-time All-Star Andrew Mccutchen from the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night in exchange for two prospects and cash considerations. Mccutchen will give Aaron Boone more options in his outfield with Aaron Judge still out with a wrist injury.
The Andrew Mccutchen trade helps the Yanks
Mccutchen played right field this year in his lone season with the Giants after being traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates in January to San Francisco. He spent the previous eight seasons of his big league career in Pittsburgh. Mccutchen was pushed over to right field from center in his last season with the Pirates in 2017 after Starling Marte broke onto the scene.
Acquiring McCutchen is a huge move for New York because right now there is no timetable to when Aaron Judge will be back and ready to swing a bat again. Shane Robinson has been playing right field at times in the absence of Judge. He’s a good defender but doesn’t bring a lot to the table offensively. Giancarlo Stanton has also spent time in right field but is more of a threat offensively rather than defensively.
McCutchen was having the worst season of his career offensively before coming to the Bronx, hitting just .255 with 15 homers and 55 RBI’s. Despite that, the 31-year old has proven to be one of the best players of this generation in the past nine years. He’s a career .288 hitter and was a vital reason the Pirates became relevant and made several playoff appearances a few years ago.
A quality player off the bench
McCutchen played the majority of his career in center field before shifting over to right for the last two years. Although the Yankees have Aaron Hicks out there, they have just added another quality outfielder who can also play center. McCutchen will bring solid defense and a quick bat to right field for the Yankees while they wait for Aaron Judge to get healthy. Even when Judge does get back, it’s always nice to know you have a player on your bench like McCutchen who can come in and be an impact player immediately anywhere in your outfield.
The Yankees right fielders are hitting a dismal .179 since Judge hit the DL, with just six extra-base hits and four homers. Gary Sanchez will return to the lineup this weekend after being on the shelf with a groin injury which will add some offensive production. With the addition of McCutchen, it will also give Aaron Boone the chance to give Stanton some rest. The slugger has played 83 consecutive games for New York.
Gives New York more depth
The Yankees aren’t going to catch Boston, who sit 8.5 games ahead of New York. They have been very unlucky with several injuries to guys in their starting lineup this year. By the time mid-September rolls around, the Bronx bombers should have all their main players back. But for now, adding McCutchen was a great move. They don’t have to pay him a lot of money either because the Giants are picking up 1.2 million of his remaining 2.4 million of his contract. It hasn’t come at a high cost to acquire him, and they didn’t give up any serious big league prospects in return.
All in all, it was definitely a logical move as McCutchen was the best outfielder available on the market.
An ex NL MVP and five-time All-Star will definitely help any team. Cutch also brings amazing energy to the clubhouse and a lot of experience that can help some of the young guys like Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres.
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