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Phillies Sign Andrew McCutchen To Three-Year, $50 Million Deal

Trey Daubert / MLB / December 11, 2018

Wow. The Phillies weren’t kidding when they said they were going to spend stupid money. After trading for Jean Segura earlier this offseason, the Phillies went into their pocket books for the first time this winter. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen has signed with Philadelphia inking a three-year contract worth $50 million. It’s a large investment for the corner outfielder.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports was the first to report the news:

“Source: Andrew McCutchen has a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Not the five he originally was shooting for but still a good fit, as he moves cross-state from his longtime home in Pittsburgh.
Andrew McCutchen originally sought five years and around $80M this offseason — the Lorenzo Cain deal. His deal, first reported by @MattGelb, will be for three years, and @JonHeyman says it’s for $50M. And so begins a winter of spending for Philadelphia.”

McCutchen, 32, has aged from his MVP days a few years ago. $50 million is a huge price tag for McCutchen who is far past his prime. That isn’t to say that McCutchen still hasn’t been a good player recently, he’s just not the Pirates version anymore. This past season with the Giants and Yankees, McCutchen put together a .255/.368/.424 mark. McCutchen is a good on base guy who has some pop (20 home runs in 2018). It will be interesting to see how he ages moving forward.

Philadelphia Philles 2018 Season Preview

The opportunity of returning to Pennsylvania may have lured McCutchen to Philly. I would assume that McCutchen will slide in as the everyday right fielder. Nick Williams, Roman Quinn, and Odubel Herrera are among the other outfield options. According to reports, this deal does not take them out of the Bryce Harper sweepstakes.

For the record, I hate this deal. This isn’t 2013. McCutchen is a 2.7 WAR player. He’s an average to above average corner outfielder who is aging fast. He’s always been a favorite of mine but more than $16 million per year is way too rich. This will be the Carlos Santana deal all over again.