Welcome Back Andrew McCutchen!

The Pirates have signed Andrew McCutchen to a one-year deal. Five years after he was traded to the Giants, he is returning to Pittsburgh. I am excited by the move. Ryan made a good point after the signing: Cutch should benefit from the shift being banned. Might see his average tick up a little bit. Granted, not back to those 2012-2015 numbers, but maybe up above .250, while continuing to hit 16-20 home runs. He is at a different point in his career, he is no longer the guy who carries a team, but he still has the skills to be a contributor. 

Sadly, my cynical side thinks the Pirates made this move because they plan to trade Bryan Reynolds for a less than stellar haul. It pisses me off that the Pirates could easily give Reynolds a contract for 6 years/$100 million. That would be huge for them, but honestly, it adding $16-20 million per year would still not bring the Pirates payroll to $100 million.

I have no delusions about the Pirates. I do not think they will be good this year. Likewise, I do not think their owner wants to compete at all, he just likes owning a team and collecting revenue. However, that does not mean I cannot be excited about Cutch coming back.