By Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement, Andrew McCutchen is the greatest Pittsburgh Pirates player of my lifetime, and he is certainly the most beloved. Only three Pirates have accumulated more WAR with the franchise in what I like to dub the “has a photo in color on Baseball Reference” era: Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Barry Bonds. The Pirates went over two decades without making the postseason, but in 2013, Andrew McCutchen helped lead them to October with his MVP-winning campaign. Few active players can compete with McCutchen’s ubiquity on the Pirates.
The center fielder has spent nine years in Pittsburgh, but his club-friendly extension is set to expire following the 2018 season (earlier this month, the Pirates exercised their $14.