The Giants headed into this offseason with a blaring need to improve their outfield and after months of reported interest in Andrew McCutchen, they finally got their man. On Monday, the Giants acquired the 31-year-old outfielder from the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds.
#SFGiants have agreed to acquire Andrew McCutchen from the #Pirates, pending a review of medical records, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 15, 2018
With this addition comes a fresh batch of speculations about how the Giants will orient their outfield next season, and Marty Lurie shared his take with Gary & Larry on Monday afternoon.
“[Pence is] going to be in left field,” Lurie said. “McCutchen I think will be in right field and I still think that Steven Duggar has got a shot to be the centerfielder because they will not go over the $197 million (luxury tax threshold). I think Duggar, if he does anything in Spring Training, and Gorkys Hernandez, they could be your centerfield platoon.
“I think Duggar will start the season in centerfield.”
With Reynolds shipped to the Pirates, Duggar became the Giants’ No. 5 prospect. After being selected in the sixth round of the 2015 MLB Draft, Duggar shot through the organization’s minor league system, batting .302 with 10 home runs in 2016 and then batted .261 in 13 games with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats last season.
Meanwhile, Hernandez appeared in 128 games last season, the most in his four-year career, and batted .255 with 50 games in centerfield. Although he’s familiar with AT&T Park, McCutchen has more experience as a centerfielder than both Hernandez and Duggar combined. Nonetheless, the centerfield in San Francisco is much more expansive than the one in Pittsburgh, supporting the possibility that McCutchen will play either right or left field.
“He didn’t like playing right field,” Lurie said. “But in this ballpark, it will be difficult for him to play centerfield. I’d think right field is where he’ll be and they’ll put Pence in left field.”
Even though the Giants have expressed interest with the Cincinnati Reds for Billy Hamilton, trading for the speedy centerfielder would cost them dearly in prospects. It’s a cost that Lurie doesn’t believe is worth it for the Giants and they should opt to give Hernandez or Duggar a shot at centerfield.
“If they don’t want to move him then the Giants are not going to give up their best prospects for Hamilton. He’s ok. He’d add a lot of speed to the top of the lineup, but if the Reds want something exorbitant, it’s not going to happen.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 2:10 for Lurie on Duggar.