Andrew McCutchen is back with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Although this news has been one of the worst-kept secrets in free agency, Pittsburgh officially announced its re-signing of McCutchen — who won the NL MVP award while with Pittsburgh in 2013 — through an X post on Wednesday morning, with the caption, "He's staying home."
He's staying home. pic.twitter.com/l1YrycXSx8
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) December 20, 2023
Ever since McCutchen's re-signing became official, the Pirates have fired off a series of posts about bringing the Pittsburgh legend back to their team in 2024 with a one-year, $5 million deal. One such post includes a quote by Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting, saying, "In every discussion with Andrew, it was clear we both shared the same strong desire for him to remain a Pirate. He is a tremendous person, player and teammate. He is an all-time great Pirates player who represents our city with a deep sense of pride. ... The way he plays the game on the field and carries himself in the community will continue to make all of us in the organization better."
Nutting's sentiment is backed up by the fact that, in addition to McCutchen's on-field success, he won MLB's Roberto Clemente Award in 2015. That award is given to the MLB player who "best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field." In addition, McCutchen has a reputation of being a fantastic teammate and all-around delightful person to interact with.
This news of McCutchen's return is especially sweet, since there was a chance McCutchen would retire after partially tearing his Achilles in September, just one home run away from No. 300 in his career.
In addition to being a Pittsburgh hero and locker room legend, McCutchen has also proved himself to be a main attraction for fans. An ESPN article noted that, after McCutchen signed with Pittsburgh last season, the Pirates' PNC Park averaged 20,131 attendees per home game in 2023 — an increase of more than 4,500 from the club's average in 2022.
McCutchen's signing with the Pirates — along with also signing players including Rowdy Tellez, Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales — should mean Pittsburgh has a better 2024 season than it has had in recent years. However, the former MVP's chase to 300 home runs is already more than enough to get the Pirates excited for next year — although it likely won't take McCutchen long to reach that milestone.
