Pirates made worst roster exchange in MLB by ditching Andrew McCutchen

Pirates made worst roster exchange in MLB by ditching Andrew McCutchen originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a solid 2026 season so far, but there are still a few things that the team likely regrets about beginning the season.

More pitching help and offensive upgrades could've been nice, but there's one position decision that the team messed up. That came at designated hitter and a franchise icon. As USA Today's Bob Nightengale highlighted, the Pirates' decision to ditch Andrew McCutchen in favor of Marcell Ozuna was the worst roster exchange by any team this past offseason.

Pirates' decision to ditch Andrew McCutchen was a big mistake "Worst exchange, Pittsburgh Pirates... The Pirates unceremoniously dumped Andrew McCutchen, one of the greatest players in franchise history, believing he was no longer useful, even as a part-time DH," Nightengale writes. This decision from the Pirates was a bad move at the time, as the team ditching one of their franchise legends at the tail-end of his career was not a good look for the team.

But things were made even worse by how McCutchen has played compared to how Ozuna has played for the Pirates. More : Three ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young Award With the Texas Rangers , McCutchen has a . 195 batting average with one homer and five RBIs to go with a .