No matter how you want to slice it, the 2016 season was the worst of Andrew McCutchen’s eight year Major League career. The Pirates’ center fielder had career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walk rate, wOBA, wRC+, and WAR in 2016. Additionally, he was arguably the worst defensive center fielder in all of baseball (-28 defensive runs saved).
Due to a combination of his struggles and his contract the rumors have started to pop up that the Pirates may look to trade McCutchen this offseason. In my opinion, this would be a huge mistake. And there is more than one reason that I believe it would be a mistake.