3 reactions to Philadelphia Phillies signing Andrew McCutchen

This does not rule out Harper or Machado

After the Segura trade, many wondered if that would pull the Phillies out of the Machado sweepstakes. As rumors had it, that was not the case. The Phillies were still very much in on Machado. The same could be said about this deal and whether that means the Phillies are out on Harper.

The Phillies are still very much all in on both Machado and Harper. They have meetings set up with Harper’s agent Scott Boras this week and will also meet with Machado in the very near future. Adding McCutchen, along with Segura, should only make Philadelphia a more attractive destination for a big-name free agent.

$50 million dollars over three years is a lot to offer someone like McCutchen, but as Phillies owner John Middleton said, the Phillies are going to “spend stupidly” this winter. So paying McCutchen won’t hold back the Phillies from going after Harper, Machado, or even both.

There are also some other names the Phillies are linked to, such as Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel, so this may just be the beginning of a very expensive offseason for the Phillies. Expect them to be very busy over the next few weeks.

Also, when looking at how the Phillies could line up defensively, adding Harper or Machado still makes sense. McCutchen would likely play left and Harper would go to right field if signed here. With Machado, he would likely play third base with Segura already at shortstop.

So bringing in McCutchen gives the Phillies another nice piece for 2019 and continues to make the team a more attractive destination for a big-name free agent. He may not be the guy, but McCutchen can be a solid piece on a Phillies team looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.