The San Francisco Giants have placed outfielder Andrew McCutchen on revocable waivers, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.
The Giants will now wait and see if any teams put a claim in for the 2013 NL MVP. If that takes place, San Francisco will have two days to work out a deal for McCutchen. If he clears waivers, the Giants can simply discuss a trade with another club.
McCutchen was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Giants in January, in exchange for Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick and $500,000 in international slot money. San Francisco was hoping that the acquisition of McCutchen would help them get back into the postseason, but things have gone south in the bay area.
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The former All-Star is batting .257 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI in 2018, with a .768 OPS and .354 OBP. These stats are far below what we're accustomed to seeing from McCutchen, so trading him could be easier said than done for the Giants.
McCutchen's defense has also been notably terrible throughout his career, so that could also scare away teams in a potential deal. A team looking at McCutchen would likely just want to upgrade its outfield depth, while adding a terrific clubhouse personality and leader.
The 31-year-old McCutchen makes $14.75 million in 2018, and then he'll hit the free agent market in the winter. A trade would be beneficial for 'Cutch', who would get the chance to reset his free agent value with another team.
It's possible that the Giants also look to trade away other veterans to clear the roster, including outfielder Hunter Pence, another pending free agent. The Giants are on the verge of missing the playoffs, for the third time in four years, and it's simply time to start cutting back on payroll and getting younger.
As such, McCutchen's tenure in San Francisco could be very short-lived, and he'll likely be traded in the coming days.