MLB Roundup 1/16: Andrew McCutchen is now a Giant

Andrew McCutchen traded to the Giants

After sending Gerrit Cole to the Astros over the weekend, the Pirates have now dealt another one of their stars. This time, it’s long-time face of the franchise Andrew McCutchen, who has been sent to the Giants. The center fielder hasn’t quite been the same player in recent years as he’s shown some signs of decline, but he’s still very, very good and perhaps a new clubhouse will re-energize him. The Giants had the worst outfield in baseball last year, so there’s no way this can hurt. Pittsburgh, once again, didn’t get much back as San Francisco sent pitcher Kyle Crick and infielder Bryan Reynolds to the Pirates. There’s two potential consequences here for the Red Sox. One is that the Pirates are clearly in sell-mode and Boston could take advantage of that. We’ll get to that later today, though. The other is that the Giants were a potential suitor for J.D. Martinez, but this trade likely takes them out of that sweepstakes, though they claim they were never involved at all. Either way, that’s good news for Boston.

• Sticking with the Pirates, there is one player who is not going to be traded anytime soon and that is closer Felipe Rivero. The lefty is one of the most talented relievers in the game and would have been a great name to add to the trade market. Instead, Pittsburgh signed him to a four-year, $22 million extension. It’s interesting, as the news came out right after the McCutchen trade, and Rivero clearly wasn’t happy about that trade.
• Early on in the offseason, I opined that Howie Kendrick would have been a great target for the Red Sox this winter given his solid bat and ability to play second base and the outfield. Boston never showed interest, and now he’s off the board having signed a two-year $7 million deal with the Nationals. The Red Sox seem content to stick with their internal options at second base, but that seems like a favorable deal.
• The Blue Jays have joined the hot stove, signing Curtis Granderson to a one-year, $5 million deal. Granderson isn’t the player he once was but this still seems like a really strong deal for Toronto. That being said, they could really use a big bat to pair with Josh Donaldson and I was afraid they’d jump into the Martinez market. Instead, Monday knocked two teams out of that race.