Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

After a disastrous 2017 season that saw the San Francisco Giants finish with a record of 64-98, they needed to reload and they have done just that.

The Giants settled up their third base dilemma, as they acquired perennial All-Star Evan Longoria from the Tampa Bay Rays and they now have a new centerfielder and it is 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen, who was acquired by the team from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

McCutchen, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2018 season, was sent to the Giants in exchange for right-handed pitcher Kyle Crick, minor league outfielder Bryan Reynolds and $500,000 in international signing bonus allocation.

“It’s no secret that we were looking to further add run production to our lineup,” said Brian Sabean, Giants executive vice president of baseball operations. “Anytime you have the opportunity to bring aboard someone with such a track record, you have to jump on it.”

During the 2017 season, McCutchen batted .279 with 27 home runs and 88 runs batted in 156 games.

“Andrew is a dynamic player on the field and will be a leader in our clubhouse,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s always been a threat at the plate and he’s a guy you don’t ever want to deal with whether he’s at the plate or on the bases. He’s going to make something happen.

McCutchen is in the final year of a six-year $51.5 million contract that he signed in March of 2012 and following that signing, the Pirates began their resurgence that led them to the postseason in 2014 for the first time since Barry Bonds roamed the outfield for the Pirates in 1992.