McCutchen Is Back With the Pirates
Andrew McCutchen is back with the Pirates on a one year contract for five million dollars. I have mixed feelings about his return. On one hand, he will be a great team leader and a representative of the last successful seasons in Pittsburgh. But on the other hand, he is on the back end of his career and not as dominant as he used to be. I have some theories on his return.
Marketing
When you have a team of nobodies, it’s nice to have a player like McCutchen be the face of the franchise. All of the fans like me are celebrating that we can break out our old McCutchen jerseys again. Players like Ke’Bryan Hayes and Brian Reynolds are good players, but they don’t carry the weight of McCutchen. The Pirates can have a return celebration, a McCutchen day and maybe a retirement celebration this season. Maybe that will draw some fans back to PNC Park.
It wasn’t long ago that retired Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized the Pirates for not spending money to obtain better players. And then they sign McCutchen. They spent some money, but not for a better player. They spent money on marketing.
Attendance
Hardly anybody attends Pirates games. Who wants to pay big money to see a bunch of nobodies that consistently lose 100 games every year? I think the hope here is that fans will come out to see McCutchen. But if McCutchen is batting under the Mendoza line 30 days into the season, this experiment will blow up.
I ask myself if I would go to a game to see McCutchen. Maybe. He is the last great player for the Pirates. But, there is more to consider than just one player. My “Mendoza line” for the Pirates every year is if they win more games than they lose in the first 30 games. I’m just not sure McCutchen can make that difference.
Appeasement
I think this is VERY likely. In order to appease the angry fans, they sign a player who is loved in Pittsburgh to a very reasonable one year contract. So, they have one year to get the fan base excited again. But, this will fail if the Pirates are dreadful again. I think the fans will see through it and stop attending games.
It’s really a sick strategy. But, I expect no less from owner Bob Nutting and General Manager Ben Cherington. I think they should be focused on building a contending team for years to come like the Houston Astros. This is a band-aid that will make some fans happy. But, I don’t think it will translate to more success.
Bryan Reynolds
Not long ago, outfielder Bryan Reynolds requested to be traded. He is one of a few players who is very good. Reynolds was unhappy with losing and the lack of management effort to build a winning team. So, signing McCutchen gives the illusion of building a winner.
I suppose that players like Reynolds might not buy in to the charade, but we’ll see.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled that McCutchen is back. He is right up there with some of the Pirates legends. But, this won’t be that same old McCutchen. I hope everything I said in this post is wrong. But, this is the same old Pirates management. They need to do a lot more than this move. But, at least they made it look like they’re doing something.
