The Pittsburgh Pirates were busy at the trade deadline and made several moves to help them move towards a postseason berth but there’s still one player in particular that could sign with the team and that fans would love to see in Pittsburgh.
Andrew McCutchen was recently released by the Atlanta Braves after signing a minor league contract with the club back in early July. Although the 39-year-old is far from his former-MVP form, there could be some intrigue from the Pirates’ organization to bring him back to where he started his major league career. Despite the several stops he made over the course of his career, ‘Cutch is synonymous with Pittsburgh, and one more chance at a reunion should at least be considered.
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After signing with Pittsburgh as a free-agent in 2023 and then playing with the club through 2025, McCutchen and the Pirates were not able to come to terms on one more contract for the 2026 season. After a long winter with what was described as little communication with the Pirates ‘Cutch was signed by the Texas Rangers on March 6 to a Minor League contract and was invited to their Spring Training. He made the team out of camp and remained with Texas before being designated for assignment and ultimately released at the end of May. McCutchen finished his stint with the Rangers with one home run while hitting .192/.277/.537 in 73 at-bats.
McCutchen’s time with the Atlanta Braves organization was spent entirely in their minor league system. Between their FCL team and Triple-A Gwinnett he finished with a line of .275/.370/.450 with an .820 OPS and one home run. It was Cutch’s first time back in the minor leagues in 17 years.
Now again, McCutchen is past his prime, and is certainly looking at the end of his career. With that being said the time feels right for him to return to Pittsburgh for one last ride before his time as a pro is over. The Pirates just released designated hitter Marcell Ozuna who was viewed in the offseason as a replacement for McCutchen. With Ozuna’s release it certainly has to open the conversation for bringing ‘Cutch back. The team is promoting Ronny Simon from Triple-A Indianapolis who is having a great season with the Indians. There still is an opportunity to bring McCutchen back home though.
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93.7 the Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi took to X and had an interesting thought on how to make a Pirates reunion with McCutchen realistic.
“The Pirates should consider signing Andrew McCutchen to a minor league contract,” Fillipponi writes. “If he hits lefties. Call him up to replace Ozuna. If he doesn’t. Let him hang out there. And call him up for the last series of the year. For a proper send-off.”
There is no harm at this point in the minor league season that could be done by signing McCutchen to a minor league contract that sees him with Altoona or Indy. Even at his age there’s no hitter in baseball that knows PNC Park quite like McCutchen, so he does have some value to bring to a team that is trying to make the postseason for the first time in 11 years. If this ends up being a team that slips out of playoff contention, then they could at the very least do the right thing and give one of their franchise greats a proper send off and have him on the major league roster to close out the year.
Baseball at the end of the day is a business, and difficult decisions need to be made when it comes to building a winning team. Our favorite players are not always going to play for our favorite teams forever because after all Father Time is undefeated. Wit that being said, Pirates’ fans over the last 30 years or so have not had a whole lot to cheer for, until a scrawny high school kid from Florida named Andrew McCutchen was drafted 11th overall in 2005. When he made his debut in 2009, the organization was still a long way off from being a contender, but it was clear that the team had a special talent growing before them.
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With the team as a young player McCutchen blossomed into one of the most exciting players in baseball, leading the Pirates to the postseason for the first time after a 21-year drought. He reignited the love for baseball in Pittsburgh and inspired countless kids to pick up a bat and glove in the neighborhoods around the city. Ultimately his time in Pittsburgh did not result in a World Series championship, but McCutchen did establish himself as one of the all-time greats in franchise history, and undoubtedly the greatest Pirate of the 21st century.
Life isn’t fair and no one is owed anything, but if the opportunity is there to honor a legend then the Pirates’ organization should jump at it! McCutchen will go down as one of the best players in the team’s history and nothing would make fans happier than for him to get his proper sendoff in the city that saw him become a star. One day they will retire his jersey and maybe even erect a statue in his honor, but for right now the time is right to bring Pittsburgh’s favorite son back home where he belongs donning the black and gold and raising the Jolly Roger! It’s not often the Pirates do the right thing, but they could right a lot of wrongs with this one decision; please bring McCutchen back home!
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