MLB trade rumors: Examining the market for Pittsburgh's trio of McCutchen, Cole, Harrison

Ryan Fagan

MLB trade rumors: Examining the market for Pittsburgh's trio of McCutchen, Cole, Harrison image

After decades of mediocrity, the Pirates averaged 93 wins from 2013 to 2015 and made the playoffs as a wild-card team all three season. They drafted well, and they developed their young players. They made beneficial trades and smart free-agent signings, both of the MLB and international variety. 

The problem with having good young players, though, is those players eventually have to get paid. The Pittsburgh front office tried to extend their window of contention, signing Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco to longer-term deals. Some worked out, some haven’t. 

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The Pirates haven’t even reached 80 wins the past two seasons, and that same front office has difficult decisions to make. They likely won't be a primary playoff contender this year (barring a miracle), and they know that. They have players who almost certainly won’t be wearing a Pirates uniform by the end of the 2018 season. 

Three players, in particular. Let’s look at the market for those three guys. 

OF Andrew McCutchen

Contract status: Pirates exercised his $14.75 million club option for 2018. Free agent after the 2018 season.

Quick thoughts: McCutchen, one of the true good guys in the sport, finished in the top five of the NL MVP voting four years in a row — he won the award in 2013 — but struggled mightily in 2016 and the first part of 2017. From a low point on May 23, with his batting average bottomed out at .200, McCutchen played like his old self the rest of the season. McCutchen hit .313 with a .940 OPS and 22 home runs in his final 111 games of 2017. He’s probably ideally a corner outfielder at this point of his career, but at 31 years old, he’s still capable of playing center. Even with that improved production, though, the asking price for McCutchen isn’t nearly what it was last offseason, when he had two years of control remaining.

Potential destinations: McCutchen has been mentioned as a trade candidate for a couple of years, which means he’s been connected to just about every contender at some point. At the moment, though, the Giants seem to be the most likely landing spot, for a couple of reasons. They already have a roster full of 30-somethings, they have an intense motivation to prove last year’s last-place debacle was a one-year aberration, and right now both Jarret Parker and Gorkys Hernandez have spots atop the outfield depth chart. They’ve traded for third baseman Evan Longoria this offseason, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll be content to go into the season with Parker and Hernandez as full-time outfielders, alongside soon-to-be-35-year-old Hunter Pence, who has spent copious amounts of time on the DL the past three seasons. The Mets are reportedly interested, but the gap between “reportedly interested” and “a deal might actually happen” for that franchise is Grand Canyon-sized. Don’t hold your breath. 

OK, now for the speculation section. The truth is this: The Pirates would probably perfer to move McCutchen soon and save the $14.75 million he’s scheduled to make in 2018 (especially if they trade Cole and/or Harrison), but there isn’t a robust market at the moment. That means the asking price theoretically is down to a level where opportunistic clubs would consider making a phone call. So … if the Blue Jays are going to hold onto Josh Donaldson — like McCutchen, a free agent-to-be — would they consider adding McCutchen as an outfield upgrade as they make a playoff push? They don’t have a deep system of prospects, but, again, it’s not going to take blue-chippers to get McCutchen at this point. The Diamondbacks really want to bring back J.D. Martinez, but that’s pretty cost-prohibitive. McCutchen would be a corner-outfield upgrade. If the Braves feel they’re wild-card contenders this year, maybe they trade for McCutchen and plug him in left field. The Nationals almost pulled off a deal for McCutchen last year, but they seem ready to give Michael Taylor a year’s worth of at-bats. The Rangers could look at McCutchen as a boost to their playoff chances. Same thing with the Rockies, at a corner outfield spot.

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SP Gerrit Cole

Contract status: Club control through 2019. Arbitration eligible both years; mlbtraderumors.com estimates a $7.5 million salary in 2018. 

Quick thoughts: Cole, who turned 27 a couple of days before the end of the 2017 regular season, finished fourth in the NL Cy Young vote in 2015 (2.60 ERA/2.66 FIP, 4.5 rWAR) but hasn’t come close to that kind of production since. In 54 starts in 2016-17, Cole has a 4.12 ERA/3.81 FIP, and his peripherals aren’t great, either. Still, he’s entering his peak years and has the top-of-rotation stuff that contending teams love. 

Potential destinations: The Yankees’ interest in Cole isn’t exactly secret. They originally drafted him in the first round (28th overall) of the 2008 draft out of high school, but he chose to pitch for UCLA instead and was the No. 1 overall pick by the Pirates in 2011. They’ve already been the most dynamic team this offseason, trading for Giancarlo Stanton and bringing CC Sabathia back for another year in the rotation, and adding Cole would be another step toward their first World Series title since 2009, though it should be noted that current fifth starter Jordan Montgomery is a pretty solid option, too. The Yankees have an outstanding farm system stocked with prospects of all ceilings, to the point where they could give the Pirates a strong return without hurting their own future. Trading for Cole, instead of paying for a free-agent pitcher, would help the Yankees stay under the luxury tax, too.

The Cubs were mentioned as a possible destination this week, and that makes sense on paper. They’re unlikely to re-sign free agent Jake Arrieta, and they have an open spot or two in their rotation that will have to be filled before Opening Day. But would the Pirates trade Cole within the division? Might take an overpay to make that happen, and that doesn’t seem likely. Connecting the speculative dots … speaking of the NL Central, the rising Brewers could use a pitcher with Cole’s experience in their rotation, but making a trade like that would be admitting the Pirates have fallen farther down the division’s pecking order.

UPDATE: The market for Cole is really picking up this week. On Monday, Astros owner Jim Crane let slip that his team is pursuing another high-end starter, and Cole's name immediately came to mind. On Wednesday, MLB.com reported that the Astros and Pirates are talking about Cole, and then another source reported that talks have been intensifying. The Astros, of course, have a deep farm system and they could certainly give the Pirates the necessary prospect package, if they decide Cole is worth the player investment. Cole was reportedly one of Houston's top trade targets last year, before they eventually landed Justin Verlander. Clearly the teams didn't find common ground last July, but maybe now they get something done. 

The Angels are another team that makes sense, if you connect speculative dots. They have lots and lots of rotation options, but almost every one of those pitchers has dealt with significant injury issues the past couple years. They aren't exactly sure things. With the additions of Shohei Ohtani, Ian Kinsler and Zack Cozart already this offseason, the Angels are positioning themselves for a playoff push in 2018, and adding a reliable pitcher like Cole would go a long way toward providing much-needed rotation stability. 

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3B/2B Josh Harrison

Contract status: Under contract through 2020; $10 million guaranteed for 2018, club options for 2019 ($10.5 million, $1 million buyout) and 2020 ($11.5 million, $500k buyout)

Quick thoughts: Harrison shook his “utility player” label in 2014, when he forced his way into Pittsburgh’s lineup on a regular basis, made his first All-Star team and finished ninth in the NL MVP voting (.315 average, 5.3 rWAR). He still has the ability to play multiple defensive positions — he’s started at least 15 games at third base, second base, left field, right field and shortstop in his career — but he’s in the lineup when healthy. He’s spent time on the DL each of the past three years, but hit 16 homers, stole 12 bases and had a 3.3 rWAR in 128 games in 2017, playing mostly third or second base. In recent years, we’ve seen the contributions of versatile guys such as Ben Zobrist and Marwin Gonzalez on World Series-winning teams, and Harrison certainly fits that mold. 

Potential destinations: Because Harrison plays so many positions, pretty much any contender would improve by plugging him in to their 25-man roster. We’ll start with teams that have actually been connected to him at this point. His name has been included in conversations with the Yankees, partially because it’s only natural to talk “package deals” with Cole, and partially because, as guy who could be a full-time starter at third or second, he matches up perfectly with the two spots where the Yankees have youngsters atop the depth chart.

As we mentioned with McCutchen, if the Blue Jays decide they’re definitely making a playoff push in Donaldson’s last year with the club, adding a versatile guy like Harrison would be a big plus for a club that’s had all sorts of injury/production issues the past couple of seasons. He was connected to the Rockies, though this doesn’t make a ton of sense because he has more value on the infield, and Colorado has Nolan Arenado at third and D.J. LeMahieu at second. The Mets make sense, but again, it's hard to see them making any sort of move that adds payroll, even reasonable salaries like Harrisons’ numbers the next couple of years.

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.