Pirates made worst roster exchange in MLB by ditching Andrew McCutchen
Pirates made worst roster exchange in MLB by ditching Andrew McCutchen initially appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a stable 2026 season thus far, however there are nonetheless a number of issues that the crew doubtless regrets about starting the season.
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More pitching assist and offensive upgrades may’ve been good, however there’s one place resolution that the crew tousled. That got here at designated hitter and a franchise icon.
Ace USA Today’s Bob Nightengale highlighted, the Pirates’ resolution to ditch Andrew McCutchen in favor of Marcell Ozuna was the worst roster exchange by any crew this previous offseason.
Pirates’ resolution to ditch Andrew McCutchen was an enormous mistake
“Worst exchange, Pittsburgh Pirates… The Pirates unceremoniously dumped Andrew McCutchen, one of the greatest players in franchise history, believing he was no longer useful, even as a part-time DH,” Nightengale writes.
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This resolution from the Pirates was a nasty transfer on the time, because the crew ditching considered one of their franchise legends on the tail-end of their profession was not a superb search for the crew.
But issues have been made even worse by how McCutchen has performed in comparison with how Ozuna has performed for the Pirates.
More: Three ways Pirates’ Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young Award
With the Texas RangersMcCutchen has a .195 batting common with one homer and 5 RBIs to go together with a .561 OPS. That’s not a superb season by any means, nevertheless it’s method higher than what Ozuna has accomplished.
Ozuna has put up -0.6 bWAR this season throughout 108 at-bats with three homers, a .185 batting common, and a .560 OPS. He’s additionally doing much more than McCutchen, with the Pirates spending $12 million on Ozuna in comparison with McCutchen’s minimal deal.
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On paper, it has been an in depth begin to the yr for Ozuna and McCutchen. But, including in the price to accumulate Ozuna in comparison with McCutchen, and the detrimental influence on the fan base that ditching McCutchen induced, this was a horrible exchange for the Pirates thus far.
