Yankees should’ve acquired Andrew McCutchen two weeks ago

The Yankees made a trade late Thursday night acquiring former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen from the Giants for prospects Abiatal Avelino (INF) and RHP Juan De Paula.

Adding McCutchen on the last day before the August 31st trade deadline was a smart move by GM Brian Cashman, but you can’t help but think he should’ve pursued a deal for him two weeks ago. With Aaron Judge still sidelined and no timetable on when he might return the Yankees have needed another big bat to bolster their outfield for a while now.

Over the past month, we’ve seen far too much of journeyman outfielder Shane Robinson who has hit an abysmal .149 in 49 at-bats. No offense to Robinson but it’s inexcusable how much playing time he’s received with this Yankee team in the midst of a pennant race. That’s why it’s hard to understand why a move for McCutchen wasn’t made once Judge went down with the chip fracture in his wrist.

Part of the reason is probably that the Yankees thought Judge would be back by now since the original timetable given was only three weeks. Today we’re at the end of week five and he still hasn’t started swinging a bat. And while they still expect him to return at some point in September they can’t continue to play Robinson and Neil Walker in the outfield and expect to win at a high rate.

Now with McCutchen in the fold, he can play every day in either corner outfield spot until Judge returns. This will also allow Aaron Boone to give Giancarlo Stanton a day off here and there and DH him regularly until that hamstring fully heals. It also allows him to rest Brett Gardner more as he continues to struggle at the plate during the second half of the season.

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McCutchen was acquired as an insurance policy if Judge can’t return but he was also brought in to give the team depth and more options come October. A player of his caliber deserves to play every day so it will be interesting to see how Boone manages his lineup once everybody’s healthy.

You can bet McCutchen will always be in the lineup against southpaws but if Gardner continues to struggle he should take over as the starting left-fielder heading into October.

During his lone season with the Giants McCutchen’s number’s weren’t what we’re used to seeing from him, but he’s still a huge upgrade in the outfield for the Yanks. He’s no longer the MVP player he once was, as his power numbers took a hit this season, but he played in arguably the best pitcher’s park in baseball.

He still hit 15 home runs and had 45 extra-base hits so he was still productive and playing at Yankee Stadium should help him boost those numbers. It should also reinvigorate him entering a playoff race for a team that’s expected to contend for a championship.

He’s going to help the Yankees a lot not just in the short term with Judge out, but in the playoffs as well. Inserting him into the middle of the Yankees order will really deepen this lineup and once Didi, Sanchez, and Judge all come back healthy there won’t be an easy out 1-9.

You just wish Cashman could’ve made this deal a couple weeks ago when the division lead was still within reach and the team was in the midst of a long stretch of games against teams under .500. Now 8.5 games out it would take a massive Boston collapse to avoid the one-game wild-card matchup.

However, with McCutchen now in pinstripes, there’s no question the Yankees are a better team than they were 24 hours ago and they’ll be that much more dangerous come October.