McCutchen to the Phillies. 3 years, 50 million

[Chewbaccer]

Seems a little much for a player who has been on the decline and is on the wrong side of 30, but he should be a bit of an upgrade, especially defensively over what they had.

I'd be thinking about playing him in center and moving Herrera(who was one of the 10 worst defensive OFers in terms of defensive runs saved) to a corner spot.

Thoughts, @Omar 382

 

[Omar 382]

Seems a little much for a player who has been on the decline and is on the wrong side of 30, but he should be a bit of an upgrade, especially defensively over what they had.

I'd be thinking about playing him in center and moving Herrera(who was one of the 10 worst defensive OFers in terms of defensive runs saved) to a corner spot.

Thoughts, @Omar 382

I'm not too worried about the money. Of course you never want to throw it away and every dollar counts, but they have considerably deep pockets.

I've read a lot about our outfield "depth." Odubel Herrera, Nick Williams, Roman Quinn, and Aaron Altherr may be a bunch of halfway decent players, but quantity shouldn't be confused for quality. Out of those four, Herrera is the only one in my opinion who will ever be able to put up a 4 win season (which he has done in the past). Quinn and Williams are good players, and one of them can start on a decent team or be a 4th outfielder on a very good team, but I truly don't think anyone in their right mind thinks you can build a franchise around them. (Aaron Altherr appears to have taken the Chris Owings career path: Step 1: Tease skills with average to above results for a year or two; Step 2: Forget how to play baseball.)

Anyway, adding a guy who's been extremely durable his whole career and who's coming off two seasons of 123 wRC+ ('17) and 120 wRC+ ('18) can only be a net benefit. Furthermore, his "old player" skills are improving: Among qualified hitters in 2016 he ranked 29th in chase rate. In 2017, he ranked 13th. In 2018, he ranked second, behind only Joey Votto. His 13.9% walk rate last year was 12th out of 140 qualified hitters in all of baseball.

Obviously Cutch isn't going to make us NL East or WS favorites on his own, but it certainly would complement adding a Machado or a Harper and some pitching help (Bumgarner and Happ have been talked about a lot as two potential targets).

 

[navamind]

overpay. he can't be any worse defensively than Hoskins (I love his bat, but he was just brutal in LF), just don't play him in CF. Still a good hitter, but nowhere near where he was in 2012-15.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

overpay. he can't be any worse defensively than Hoskins (I love his bat, but he was just brutal in LF), just don't play him in CF. Still a good hitter, but nowhere near where he was in 2012-15.

Can't be any worse than Hoskins? That's an odd way to describe a good outfielder and a horrible one.

 

[black francis]

said he was gonna pay stupid money

mission accomplished

 

[calsnowskier]

He is a great clubhouse guy, and once he was traded to the Spanks, he did pretty well. I think he will do just fine in the Philly bandbox.

A slight overpay, maybe, but overall, I like the signing.

 

[steelerssb]

 

[calsnowskier]

At least you guys got a legit bully arm and a meh OF prospect for him...

 

[nynasty]

Ooof. Severe overpay.

 

[redseat]

Overpay imo. However in this day and age in baseball or any professional sport it seems like ridiculous amounts of money is the only way to get players.

Is he a Boras client?

 

[LUNCHBOX]

Seems a little much for a player who has been on the decline and is on the wrong side of 30, but he should be a bit of an upgrade, especially defensively over what they had.

I'd be thinking about playing him in center and moving Herrera(who was one of the 10 worst defensive OFers in terms of defensive runs saved) to a corner spot.

Thoughts, @Omar 382

That’s crazy at his age.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Overpay imo. However in this day and age in baseball or any professional sport it seems like ridiculous amounts of money is the only way to get players.

Is he a Boras client?

I don't know who represents him, but the fact he signed the deal this early into the offseason means he and his representation knew nobody else was gonna beat that offer.

I wanted the Braves to get McCutchen on a 1 year deal, but no way we can match or top that, and it would be dumb for us to do so(we have the worst tv contract in sports, so we can't afford to miss)

 

[tducey]

A player I've always liked. Good move for the Phillies here.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

A player I've always liked. Good move for the Phillies here.

A player that anyone should like. A true professional. That said, it's a bad move by the Phillies given his age.

 

[carson]

Phillies have realized Bryce Harper does not want to make the commute from Moorestown, NJ every day.

 

[navamind]

Phillies have realized Bryce Harper does not want to make the commute from Moorestown, NJ every day.

I wouldn't blame him, 76/295/42 is a shitshow.

 

[JohnU]

Cutch is an overpay for his current skills an OK pay for his experience and credibility and an underpay for what he brings to the fan base. I don't think the Phils will be sorry on this. This is Cutch's last contract. He won't be happy with a phase-out. I think he's a player to watch on a relevant team, at least this year. I got a thumbs-up if I am a Phils fan.