Pirates' Don Kelly Addresses Andrew McCutchen's Departure
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates and Andrew McCutchen have been together for a large part of recent history, but that isn't the case this season.
McCutchen signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, made official on March 6. The deal reaches $1.25 million if he makes the major roster and he could make $2.5 million this season, based on performance-incentives.
This ended the three-year stint with the Pirates and McCutchen, his second time around with the franchise, where they signed him to a one-year, $5 million deal each offseason from 2023-25.
Pirates manager Don Kelly previously served as the bench coach before becoming the manager on May 8 in 2025, taking over from previous manager Derek Shelton.
Kelly had experience coaching McCutchen, but as a Pittsburgh native himself, knows the impact that he had on not just the franchise, but the city too during his time with the Pirates.
"Yeah, excited for his opportunity there," Kelly said in a video from DK Pittsburgh Sports. "Obviously we all know what 'Cutch has meant to the Pirates, to the city, you know, those years from '13 to '15 and longer for him and just wish him the best with the Rangers and excited for the opportunity he has there.
The Pirates will travel to face the Rangers early in the season for a three-game series, April 21-23, which would give them the first chance against McCutchen, if he does make the major league roster.
Kelly is looking forward to getting the opportunity to take on the Pirates legend, with a quick, "Yeah, absolutely."
Remembering McCutchen's Second Stint with the Priates
He didn't quite reach the heights of his five year stretch from 2011-15, where he was an All-Star each season and led the Pirates to three postseasons, but was still one of the better hitters for them during his second stint with the franchise.
Batting Avg. | On-Base % | Slugging % | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
.242 | .345 | .391 | .736 |
Hits | Doubles | Home Runs | RBI | BB/K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
318 | 59 | 45 | 150 | 200/351 |
He had the second most home runs, doubles, hits and RBI during that time, with only outfielder Bryan Reynolds having more.
McCutchen was the Pirates designated hitter during that time, giving the team a better chance of making the postseason, something they didn't achieve.
This included starting 20-8 overall in 2023 and being 34-30 in June, before two long losing streaks saw the Pirates finish 76-86, then being 55-53 at the 2024 trade deadline and ending up 76-86 again following an 8-19 August.
McCutchen wanted to come back to the Pirates this offseason and let it be known his feelings on that, but with the signing of Marcell Ozuna, he didn't have a spot on the roster as a designated hitter.
He ranks amongst the best Pirates hitters of all-time, including third in home runs, fourth in walks, fifth in extra bases hits (644), sixth in RBI, seventh in both doubles and total bases and ninth in hits. He also ranked ninth in games played, 10th in WAR (42.9) and sixth in offensive WAR (50.3).
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.