Colorado Rockies: Could Andrew McCutchen be a fit for the outfield?

Mike Petriello of MLB.com recently speculated in an article on some teams that could be fits for free agent outfielder Andrew McCutchen and of his top five teams, the Colorado Rockies were one of the teams mentioned.

Andrew McCutchen is one of the top free agents of this 2018-19 class as MLB Trade Rumors ranked him as the #11 free agent entering the offseason.

Petriello thinks that McCutchen would be a good fit in right field as he would provide the Rockies with another bat, one that they desperately need considering how anemic the offense was in 2018, and McCutchen would help the offense.

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In 2018, McCutchen hit 20 home runs, 30 doubles, 65 RBI, a slash line of .255/.368/.424, and an OPS+ of 118. His OPS+ was 123 in 2017.

There are a few reasons why I, personally, think that McCutchen would not be a great fit. First off, his defense is a problem.

While he did have 2 Defensive Runs Saved in 2018, he had -42 DRS in 2016 and 2017. Most of that was while he was in center field but considering Coors Field expansive outfield, he could see his numbers go down significantly.

Secondly, on a related note, the Rockies already have one poor defensive outfielder of their own in Charlie Blackmon, who was dead last in the major leagues in DRS with -28 in 2018.

Third off, MLBTR predicted that he will get a contract for 3 years and $45 million. If that does end up being the case, he would become the 4th Rockie to be at or over a salary of $15 million (that includes Nolan Arenado who is projected to make more than $26 million in arbitration).

Lastly, with McCutchen in the outfield, that would cement Ian Desmond at first base because you know as well as I do that he will almost certainly not be benched if he is struggling, as he has the past two seasons.

Desmond is a much better outfielder than he is a first baseman as his offense has been better when he played the outfield as well as his defense. In 2018, he only played in the outfield in 20 games and had 1 DRS (granted, a small sample size) while he had -6 DRS at first base in 138 games.

While McCutchen is a fit for the Rockies, he is not a perfect fit but depending on the contract that he is demanding/the market is willing to offer, the Rockies should consider him…but only for the right price since he is not necessarily the right fit.

Mike Petriello of MLB.com recently speculated in an article on some teams that could be fits for free agent outfielder Andrew McCutchen and of his top five teams, the Colorado Rockies were one of the teams mentioned.

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