OnlyBucs

173B33343F182F39295A0 wrote: I remain in the camp of picking up his option (no-brainer) and then trading him for talent.



As the Bucs need more talent to have a chance of competing at a high level, the Bucs should consider all avenues in moving Cutch, including trading him with other players.



What do I want in return?  In order of priority.



1)  Talent

2)  Cost controlled talent

3)  Prefer a 3rd baseman, SS or [highlight]catcher[/highlight]

4)  And if Cutch is traded, it should be the beginning of a string of trades and not just a single move.  Cutch is the backbone of the current offense. If he is traded, Bucs should begin to retool. 


Hey Mainer I like your priorities and you hit my second most needed upgrade position other than 3B. The catching situation is so bad. Cervelli is injury prone. Love the guy but he can only play half the season. But I stick with him. As far as Stewart goes he is okay as a short term fill in. And very short at that. Play him when you are playing a weak team and facing their worst SP. Diaz, okay guy but not a MLB starter at this point. Learning the pitchers but not really hitting the cover off the ball.

6B4A426B40482F0 wrote: I remain in the camp of picking up his option (no-brainer) and then trading him for talent.



As the Bucs need more talent to have a chance of competing at a high level, the Bucs should consider all avenues in moving Cutch, including trading him with other players.



What do I want in return?  In order of priority.



1)  Talent

2)  Cost controlled talent

3)  Prefer a 3rd baseman, SS or [highlight]catcher[/highlight]

4)  And if Cutch is traded, it should be the beginning of a string of trades and not just a single move.  Cutch is the backbone of the current offense. If he is traded, Bucs should begin to retool. 


Hey Mainer I like your priorities and you hit my second most needed upgrade position other than 3B.  The catching situation is so bad.  Cervelli is injury prone.  Love the guy but he can only play half the season.  But I stick with him.  As far as Stewart goes he is okay as a short term fill in.  And very short at that.  Play him when you are playing a weak team and facing their worst SP.  Diaz, okay guy but not a MLB starter at this point.  Learning the pitchers but not really hitting the cover off the ball.






I think stew is gone and Diaz 1A behind cervelli

If the Pirates are rebuilding, they might not need a 3B. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Will Craig play 3B and are top prospects. Unless Craig was moved to 1B permanently?



I am not sure where Oneil Cruz is going to settle either. So, third base looks pretty good down the road.

666D65696C6D763335427B636A6D6D2C616D020 wrote: If the Pirates are rebuilding, they might not need a 3B.  Ke'Bryan Hayes and Will Craig play 3B and are top prospects.  Unless Craig was moved to 1B permanently?



I am not sure where Oneil Cruz is going to settle either.  So, third base looks pretty good down the road.


I look at two lower minors guys like that with lackluster initial pro performances and can't even begin to consider that 3b looks pretty good down the road.



Those two players are meaningless right now. Nobody has any idea if they will amount to anything, let alone amount to a quality starting MLB 3rd baseman in 4 years

242D25343A400 wrote: If the Pirates are rebuilding, they might not need a 3B.  Ke'Bryan Hayes and Will Craig play 3B and are top prospects.  Unless Craig was moved to 1B permanently?



I am not sure where Oneil Cruz is going to settle either.  So, third base looks pretty good down the road.


I look at two lower minors guys like that with lackluster initial pro performances and can't even begin to consider that 3b looks pretty good down the road.



Those two players are meaningless right now.  Nobody has any idea if they will amount to anything, let alone amount to a quality starting MLB 3rd baseman in 4 years


Will Craig is no longer a third baseman. He did not play an inning at third this season. His bat is a major question too. He was outslugged by Tolman, Tucker, Hughson, Jordan George and others. He needs to start hitting in 2018 to be considered a prospect.

363F372628520 wrote: If the Pirates are rebuilding, they might not need a 3B.  Ke'Bryan Hayes and Will Craig play 3B and are top prospects.  Unless Craig was moved to 1B permanently?



I am not sure where Oneil Cruz is going to settle either.  So, third base looks pretty good down the road.


I look at two lower minors guys like that with lackluster initial pro performances and can't even begin to consider that 3b looks pretty good down the road.



Those two players are meaningless right now.  Nobody has any idea if they will amount to anything, let alone amount to a quality starting MLB 3rd baseman in 4 years


My point is that if we trade for low minor leaguers, it should be for the best overall talent and not a certain position. You are right, we have no idea how any prospect will perform.

Ok yeah I agree with that, of course.

6B60686461607B3E384F766E676060216C600F0 wrote: Upton has been getting better.  He just had his best year ever in his 11 year old career. 



McCutchen is not in that same boat.  He had a decent year, but it was probably his 5th best season ever.  And it wasn't as good as Upton's either.



I don't know what McCutchen will get on the open market.  I just feel he is on a decline.  That doesn't mean he is no longer a super star, but his best years might be in the past.  He is still a great player in my eyes.  A $10 million raise would be significant.


You feel like Cutch is in decline just as I feel NH is.

I would still extend McCutchen.  I don't think he is worth $24 million a year.  Its hard to improve on being the best in the league, so some decline was expected. How far is the question?



Interesting to think a GM is in decline.  It happens as the game passes GMs up at times.  There were some good points in the other thread "Two Years later" on how he needs a new strategy. 



Huntington needs to turn it around for sure.  After a successful run, he had two down years.  McCutchen can improve too and hope age isn't catching up to him.

I'll go back to part of my initial post which intimates that Andrew McCutchen knows exactly what he is dealing with in the Pirates.



The Pirates can want to extend Cutch all they want. With ample evidence that the commitment is to the budget rather than to competing, does he want to spend the rest of his prime in a situation that has been defined for him as one with a team that will do just about anything to dump salary when it's time to cash out on a season, and will do very little to improve the team via financial investment prior to the season and at the deadline.



I see talent in the Pirates system, but not enough to contend without a helluva lot going the right way.



When the Pirates pulled the Liriano and Nicasio deals, what player did the media seek out? Andrew McCutchen. To answer and not bash ownership had to be a difficult position. I don't think he wants to do that again.