After spending 12 of his 18 Major League seasons with the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen said back in August that he wanted to return for another season in the black-and-gold, while acknowledging that his shortcomings during the 2025 season. “I have to do what I need to do to…show that I was able to have a good year and still can play the following year,” McCutchen said, noting that he didn’t want to be just “filling in a spot” and not contributing.
There hasn’t been any buzz about McCutchen’s market as he enters his age-39 season, with the assumption being that the Pirates are his only potential destination. When asked about McCutchen during the PiratesFest fan event this weekend, Bucs GM Ben Cherington told fans and reporters (including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that the club is still has to assemble more of its roster before considering McCutchen’s role.
“Andrew has meant a ton to the team. He’s had an incredible run at two different times. Certainly his legacy as a Pirate is secure,” Cherington said. “Everybody with the Pirates, it’s our desire to maintain a really good relationship with Andrew well into the future. Then we come back to our team. What is the job? The job is to build a team that gives us the best chance to win games when you’re at the ballpark in June and July….Our approach this offseason has been laser-focused on what gives us the best chance to win more baseball games in Pittsburgh than we have in the past seasons. That’s gonna continue to guide our decisions.
“So much respect for Andrew. That relationship is really important to us. We’ll continue to communicate with him directly as the team comes together. We have more work to do.”
McCutchen hit .239/.333/.367 with 13 homers over 551 plate appearances in 2025, translating to a 95 wRC+. While it was just the second time in McCutchen’s stellar career that he dropped under the 100 wRC+ mark for league-average offense, most of his Statcast metrics were also average at best, apart from a very strong 12.2% walk rate.
These aren’t the numbers you want from a designated hitter in particular, and McCutchen is primarily a DH at this point in his career, with only 20 games played in the outfield during his 2023-25 return tenure in Pittsburgh. To this end, the Pirates have seemingly already addressed the DH spot by signing Ryan O’Hearn, who may alternate with Spencer Horwitz between the first base and DH positions in the lineup.
O’Hearn can also play in the corner outfield, and since O’Hearn and Horwitz are both left-handed hitters, there would seemingly be some roster space for Cutch as a part-time righty bat who is perhaps limited to facing southpaw pitching. As Cherington implied, however, the Pirates remain looking for ways to improve the team. If that means choosing between McCutchen or a younger and more versatile position player, the second option might simply make more sense for the Pirates.
Improving the offense has been the club’s chief goal this winter. Between O’Hearn, Brandon Lowe, Jhostynxon Garcia, and Jake Mangum, the Bucs hope they’ve already both raised the ceiling and elevated the floor of their offensive potential, plus it would naturally help a ton if Bryan Reynolds or Oneil Cruz bounced back from disappointing 2025 campaigns. As underwhelming as McCutchen’s 2025 numbers were, his 95 wRC+ still ranked fourth amongst all Pirates hitters last year, speaking to the lackluster state of Pittsburgh’s lineup.
If McCutchen was any other player, it probably wouldn’t even be a question that the Pirates would move from an aging DH-only bat. However, cutting ties with a franchise icon doesn’t sound like something Cherington (or likely owner Bob Nutting) wants to do until it is absolutely necessary, or if Cutch makes the decision to retire on his own terms. Part of the reason McCutchen returned to the Pirates prior to the 2023 season was his desire to be part of Pittsburgh’s next winning era, yet with seven straight losing seasons, the Bucs have yet to fully break out of their rebuild.
Breaking through to at least a winning record (and maybe a playoff berth) with McCutchen on the roster would be ideal for all parties. McCutchen’s previous three one-year deals with the Pirates were signed earlier in the offseason than January 24, though of course there’s still plenty of time before Spring Training for a deal to be worked out between the two sides.
