The Texas Rangers have dug into their change pocket again to find some more money to spare for a potential right-handed outfield bat, agreeing to a minor league deal with former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, two people with knowledge of the deal told The Dallas Morning News.
The deal is still subject to a physical.
McCutchen, 39, spent the last three seasons with Pittsburgh where he also began his career and enjoyed his most success. He was durable last year, playing 135 games almost exclusively as a DH. He slashed .239/.333/.367/.700 with 13 homers. More importantly, McCutchen, a right-handed hitter, had a .799 OPS against left-handed starters last year, making him a viable candidate as a platoon DH.
The move comes only a day after it was revealed that Atlanta’s Jurickson Profar had been suspended for the full season for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. It had been rumored that McCutchen might then end up with the Braves as a replacement.
Rangers
The Rangers have already signed one veteran right-handed hitter as a potential part-time DH: Mark Canha. The 37-year-old is 4-for-14 thus far in spring training with all four hits being singles. Joc Pederson, the primary DH, is a left-handed swinger coming off a poor year. Pederson is 3 for 12 this spring, all singles.
Chris Young made a dramatic change at Rangers manager in both age and experience, going from Bruce Bochy (70) to Schumaker (46).
The Rangers believe a fully healthy Gutierrez can be one of the best prospects in the system.
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