Andrew McCutchen, Pirates Agree To Extension

[Elite]

The Pirates and Andrew McCutchen have agreed to a six-year extension worth $51.5MM with a club option for a seventh year at $14.75MM, according to Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The deal is pending a physical, and is expected to be officially announced on Tuesday (Twitter links).

McCutchen's contract buys out his final pre-arbitration year, all three arbitration years, and a pair of free agent seasons with a club option for another. All told, the Buccos now control their young superstar through the 2018 season.

The 25-year-old Aegis Sports Management client has just two fewer days of service time than Jay Bruce did when he signed nearly the same deal -- six years and $51MM. Likewise, Justin Upton had less than three years of service time when the Diamondbacks locked him up for six years and $51.25MM. The Pirates, like the Reds, were able to secure a club option, which Arizona failed to do in Upton's case.

Pittsburgh selected McCutchen with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft. He debuted as a 22-year-old in 2009, and has since tallied 420 big league games while hitting a strong .276/.365/.458 with 51 homers and 78 steals. Ultimate zone rating hasn't been kind to McCutchen's defense thus far in his career, but he did post a positive mark for the first time in 2011, checking in with a UZR/150 of +3.3.

The Pirates have long been interested in locking McCutchen up, and now should have two thirds of their outfield set for many years. Last August, the team secured a multi-year deal with Jose Tabata as well, inking a six-year guarantee with club options that run through the 2019 season.

As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, general manager Neal Huntington has architected multi-year deals in the past for Tabata, Nate McLouth, Freddy Sanchez, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps, and Ian Snell, though none of those deals where anywhere near this magnitude. McCutchen's guarantee falls just shy of Jason Kendall's record for the largest contract in franchise history; Kendall received $60MM over six years back in November of 2000.

MLBTR

I'm shocked, the Pirates actually extended their star player. Probably the first time in my lifetime that that has ever happened. Well, it looks like they picked the right one because all of the other guys they let leave, their current teams regretted/are regretting the deals they gave them.

 

[snipezo]

Great contract imo.

 

[Rios15]

Good to see a young stud commit to a small-market team, and at such a great price, which also racks in quite a bit of money for McCutchen. Good deal.

 

[cruzg24]

This is a very good signing, unfortunately this is just 1 piece of many that the Pirates need.