Philadelphia Phillies: The team should look to move on from Andrew McCutchen
With the future of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise uncertain, it may be time to move on from fan favorite Andrew McCutchen.
It pains me to sit here and write this piece. Please believe me when I say that I love Andrew McCutchen, and it is awesome that we got to watch him play in red pinstripes. However, with the Philadelphia Phillies future uncertain at this time, it may be time to move on.
Yes, I understand it is hard to come to terms with this idea. But when you actually look into this situation, it really does make a ton of sense. It is no secret that Cutch is not the same player he was back when he won the NL MVP in 2013 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. To hold him to that standard as a soon to be 34 year old veteran would be unfair. Unfortunately for the Phillies, they are paying him to be at least be an All-Star caliber player, which quite frankly he no longer is.
Andrew McCutchen is set to make $20 million dollars in 2021. That is a large sum of money, and with the current state of the Philadelphia Phillies, it makes more sense to try to shop Cutch to see if you can get anything of value. This is feasible because McCutchen still can contribute to a contending team.
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If the Phillies were close to being a World Series contender, it may make sense to bring Cutch back for another year. However, lets be real, the Phils have shown they are not close to being a legitimate contender. So paying a declining veteran outfielder $20 million dollars just does not make much sense at all. Simply put, its bad business.
When you look into it even further and realize the Phils have used multiple high picks on outfielders in recent years, and some of those players have arrived in the big leagues, it makes much more sense to give those guys the reps in left field. Adam Haseley (whom the Phillies took eighth overall in 2017) has shown glimpses of being a productive major leaguer. I would even go a step further and say I believe Adam Haseley has the potential to be a Gold Glove caliber player in left field.
The other young outfielder I believe would benefit from receiving more reps in the outfield would be non other than former first overall pick Mickey Moniak. Moniak made his debut this past season, and in reality, it was merely a cup of coffee at the big league level. While he still may need some more seasoning at the minor league level, having McCutchen on the roster just creates another road block that is withholding playing time in the bigs from a player like Moniak.
Next. Bryce Harper deserves better from the Philadelphia Phillies front office. dark
I want to reiterate this again, I love McCutchen, and it would suck to see him donning another jersey. However, this is a business and I want the Phillies to do what is best for them moving forward. Having that extra $20 million dollars could be huge in rebuilding the bullpen or adding another middle of the rotation arm for 2021. His tenure in red pinstripes for sure wasn’t what we had in mind when Cutch signed before the 2019 season; but sometimes that is just how things go. Sadly, it is time to move on from the former MVP.