For the last couple of weeks, rumors had arose that McCutchen had been placed on the team trading block, and that some of the top offers were from division rival Milwaukee and the Yankees. The Yankees apperantly offered more players then any other team (6) but lacked stand out high quality players that the Pirates got from Milwaukee. In the deal, Pittsburgh aquired three young pitchers and infielder Joe Inglett. The pitchers are 22 year old righty Kyle Heckathorn, 21 year old lefty Efrain Nieves, and 19 year old lefty Tad Girouard. Pirates GM Jordan had this to say on the transaction: "Heackathorn, Nieves and Girouard have great scouting data and all should all become amazing pitchers. This team is set up to have a stellar rotation down the road, and without a great rotation, you can't win ballgames." Joe Inglett should find a lot of playing time in the Pirates weak infield, he had very little playing time in Milwaukee do to them having Rickie Weeks at second base.
McCutchen leaves a large void in center field, but the Pirates have a lot of outfielders that can fill the void like Johnny Damon, John Raynor, or Jason Tyner.
In other news, Magglio Ordonez, the Pirates left fielder, was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with a dislocated hip. He should be back around the all-star break. Ordonez was batting .289 with 3 homeruns and 17 RBI's. John Raynor was called up to take his place.
It's not a suprise that McCutchen was traded, he was under performing in Pittsburgh. He batted .247 in 151 games last year, and just .230 this year.
1M
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