Jason Mackey: What is Andrew McCutchen's Pirates future? You can argue both sides.

PITTSBURGH — When Andrew McCutchen returned to the Pirates for the 2023 season, the goal was simple.

The unquestioned face of Pittsburgh baseball for an entire generation (and likely more) would finish his career where it all started, in the city he adopted as his own, while hopefully helping a young club return to the postseason.

That storybook ending obviously hasn't happened.

The Pirates have won 76, 76 and 71 games in McCutchen's three seasons, and the lack of offense has been a consistent, frustrating theme. Pittsburgh has scored the second-fewest runs (1,940) in MLB since 2023, trailing only the Chicago White Sox (1,795).

It's also not McCutchen's fault. Far from it.

Among Pirates with at least 750 plate appearances since '23, McCutchen ranks first in on-base percentage (.345), second in OPS (.736) and has averaged 15 home runs per season. Pretty much what the Pirates should've expected with McCutchen in his mid-to-late 30s.

But given the Pirates' current trajectory and needs, as well as some of McCutchen's comments this past season — and the fact that he had arguably his worst MLB season in 2025 — we should be able to agree on this: It makes for a lively debate.

Reasonable people can look at this situation and see different things, an immense legacy that should be honored and respected over here, a 38-year-old who was worth minus-0.1 wins above replacement (FanGraphs) on a $5 million deal over there.

With that in mind, let's dig deeper into both arguments:

Run it back

The reasons to keep McCutchen aren't terribly complicated.

He's been one of the few consistent positives with Pirates baseball over the past few decades. He's a regular presence on the franchise's all-time leaderboards, and you saw the numbers McCutchen has produced since 2023.

It's easy to argue McCutchen has earned the right to determine when and where his career ends — and he does not want that to be now.

If McCutchen disagrees with the Pirates' plan or sees a more attractive option elsewhere, I'd never begrudge him for pursuing it. He's earned that.

Lastly, it's worth noting what Pirates owner Bob Nutting told me in July 2023 regarding McCutchen's time here.

"Andrew should stay a Pirate as long as he wants to," Nutting said. "The debate and discussion ... I'm sure there are teams that would like to have him, but from our perspective, we want to keep Andrew in a Pirates uniform."

Obviously much has changed with the Pirates since that quote, though not with season-long results or writing what McCutchen described to me as "a neat story" back in March.

"I've been visualizing it," McCutchen said at his LECOM Park locker. "There's a reason I'm here. There's a reason I came back. I didn't come back just to lose for three years, and that's it.

"No way am I alluding to this being my last year. But if it is, the hope is to have a neat story like that."

There's an extremely valid argument that McCutchen deserves the chance to keep pursuing that, if he wants.

Another figure that belongs on this side of the ledger: From 2023-25, McCutchen has been worth 2.3 bWAR.

One free agent WAR is valued at roughly $8 million, so you can argue McCutchen has given the Pirates $18.4 million worth of value for $15 million in salary. And that's just baseball.

It's not accounting for McCutchen's brand, the goodwill he generates and the possible PR hit the Pirates would take by telling one of their most popular players since Willie Stargell to take a hike.

Seems like an unnecessarily harsh move for a franchise that has signed a lot of bad contracts to decide this one simply couldn't continue.

Time to move on

Attend PiratesFest, a game at PNC Park, spring training or literally anything where McCutchen is present, and the adoration is obvious. Only Paul Skenes has a similar effect. The countless Pirates fans McCutchen impacted from 2009-17 pass down stories of his greatness and importance, and no one really wants to see this marriage end.

But there's also reality.

The Pirates are perennially at the bottom of the heap in major league payroll, meaning general manager Ben Cherington will only get so many dollars this winter. As much as anyone might believe McCutchen is better than a .700 OPS or wRC+ of 95 (100 is league average), we've still seen his OPS drop each of the past three years.

McCutchen was at .776 in 2023, helped by an on-base percentage of .378. Power was more of a thing in 2024, with McCutchen hitting 20 homers and slugging .328.

This year for McCutchen also wasn't terrible. He appeared in 135 games and accumulated 35 extra-base hits compared to 39 the previous year. Numbers dropped, but there were certainly far bigger reasons for the Pirates' offensive struggles which could inadvertently impact the calculus here.

The Pirates' need to make several impact moves to improve their offense in 2026, and there are only so many dollars and lineup spots to go around. Would you begrudge them if they shot higher than McCutchen, whose wRC+ was better than just four designated hitters in either league who had at least 300 plate appearances?

Probably not, although we all have doubts about the Pirates landing some sort of big fish via trade or free agency.

But to those who think it's time or believe the Pirates need more offense from that spot (they were 22nd in fWAR by DHs in 2025 at 0.0), it's hard to say you're wrong.

It's also interesting to think about this from Cherington's perspective. He knows if he doesn't have a good offseason and the Pirates can't fix their offense, he'll be fired.

If you're Cherington, wouldn't you want to do things differently? Clearly what the Pirates have been doing hasn't been working.

Meet in the middle

The great unknown here is whether there's a compromise available.

Would McCutchen be OK with half his recent salary and a reduced role? Or would he want something more, even if it meant uprooting his family?

Furthermore, would the Pirates be OK with McCutchen in a part-time capacity, knowing fans would clamor for him to get more at-bats whenever someone struggled?

Tough to tell at this point. It likely depends on McCutchen's other options, as well as what additional opportunities the Pirates encounter to improve their team this winter.

A compromise would honor McCutchen's legacy and allow him to finish in Pittsburgh, although an important part of that would be Cutch saying this was indeed it and the Pirates changing how they allocate DH reps.

Bottom line, it's a complex question. It's also the unfortunate byproduct of the Pirates' collective failures over the past three seasons.

My hope is that, whatever is ultimately decided, it leads to a positive resolution. McCutchen is too important to recent Pirates history for this to end badly.

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