McCutchen’s fate now on deck for Bucs

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Pirates will spend the next two months trying to figure out whether centerfielder Andrew McCutchen is part of their plans in 2018.

Don’t expect the five-time All-Star to monitor the situation on Twitter, which is how he found out the Pirates aggressively explored trading him last winter.

McCutchen’s got bigger things on his mind.

“I’ll just be waiting for this baby,” said McCutchen, whose wife, Maria, is expecting the couple’s first child in early December.

Good idea considering the only franchise the 2013 NL MVP has ever known will grapple with weighty questions following a second straight losing season.

The glow from Pittsburgh’s run of three consecutive playoff berths from 2013-15 has faded.

The Pirates are 153-170-1 since getting shut out by Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 wild-card round, including a 75-87 mark this season, the club’s worst since manager Clint Hurdle’s first season on the job in 2011.

Asked if the club is in a better place now than it was a year ago, the player most responsible for baseball’s renaissance in Pittsburgh shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” McCutchen said.

“It’s a tough question to answer, considering we’ve had a lot of movement this year. Being in a better place? I don’t know. If you look at the record, I don’t know if we’re in a better place.”

Pittsburgh holds a $14.75 million club option for McCutchen next season, the final in a deal he signed in 2012 that became one of the biggest bargains in the major leagues.

It’s highly unlikely the Pirates are able to keep McCutchen once he hits the open market a year from now, meaning they must decide whether to make a one last run with him in 2018 or try to move him for a prospect and/or a proven major leaguer.

General manager Neal Huntington said the Pirates’ best chance to make up ground in the NL Central is with McCutchen — who hit .279 with 28 home runs and 88 RBIs — patrolling center.

Maybe, but it might not make long-term sense for a club ever conscious of the bottom line, flipping McCutchen for a quality player (or two) under “team control” beyond next September could be the more pragmatic approach.

Don’t expect McCutchen to be waiting by the phone.

“I’m probably not going to be paying any attention to that, honestly,” McCutchen said

“I have a little too much on my plate with the baby. I’m looking forward to that. It’ll be a fun and interesting offseason, for sure.”