So far this offseason the San Francisco Giants have been trying like crazy to upgrade their roster after a very disappointing 98-loss season a year ago. They landed Evan Longoria and also pursued Giancarlo Stanton before he was traded to the New York Yankees. San Francisco seems to be in on everything.
As things stand, the Giants are still in desperate need of outfield help. In fact, according to FanGraphs, they currently project to have the worst outfield in baseball. Their current outfield unit includes Hunter Pence and some combination of Jarrett Parker, Mac Williamson, Gorkys Hernandez, and Steven Duggar. No great.
It is no surprise then that, according to MLB.com's Jon Morosi, the Giants remain engaged with the Pittsburgh Pirates about a potential Andrew McCutchen trade. A deal is not particularly close, however. From Morosi:
The Giants and Pirates have had recent contact regarding a trade that would send Andrew McCutchen to San Francisco, a source told MLB.com, although a deal is not imminent and multiple barriers remain.
The teams have had dialogue regarding McCutchen since early in the offseason, without producing any apparent breakthroughs. That is not surprising, as the Pirates also proceeded deliberately in their McCutchen trade discussions last offseason.
The Giants traded infielder Christian Arroyo, one of their top prospects, to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Longoria deal, meaning their already thin farm system got even thinner. Morosi says the Pirates want either outfielder Heliot Ramos, righty Tyler Beede, or first baseman Chris Shaw in any McCutchen. They are the three best prospects remaining in San Francisco's system.
McCutchen, 31, rebounded from his rough 2016 season to hit .279/.363/.486 with 28 home runs in 2017, which is very good but down from his MVP caliber peak. McCutchen will become a free agent next offseason, so this is a one-year pickup, unless the Giants are willing to hand out another big contract to re-sign him. A trade would be gearing toward winning in 2018, clearly.
While McCutchen would be an obvious upgrade to the Giants outfield, it is worth noting AT&T Park is very spacious, and McCutchen's defense has been on the decline. Asking him to play center field in a huge park may not work out so well. He's best suited for a corner at this point. Then again, even a bad defensive McCutchen is a huge upgrade over the team's in-house options.
In addition to McCutchen, the Pirates have been listening to offers -- if not outright shopping -- right-hander Gerrit Cole and Josh Harrison this offseason. It seems like the club would prefer to add some young players to the organization and retool rather than tear it all down and rebuild.
