How old is Andrew McCutchen?

If you go back a decade, Andrew McCutchen was the hottest player in baseball. Now the former NL MVP has been languishing as a free agent. McCutchen is now 36, but it looks like he will return to where his career began.

McCutchen was drafted 11th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2005 MLB Draft. A star for his team at Fort Meade High School in Florida, scouts knew there were big things in store for him.

The young Pirates rookie did not disappoint. He hit 12 home runs and 54 RBIs while registering a batting average of .286 in 2009, his rookie season. He finished fourth overall in the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting that season.

"Andrew McCutchen, 2008" - @ Pittsburgh Pirates History

Two years later, McCutchen virtually doubled his stats. In 2011, he hit 23 home runs and 89 RBIs and stole 23 bases. These stats were enough for him to make it to his first NL All-Star team.

The following four seasons for McCutchen on the Pittsburgh Pirates turned even more heads. He registered a league-best 194 hits in 2012 and hit .327, winning both a Silver Slugger and a Golden Glove Award. In 2013, he was named the NL MVP after hitting 21 home runs and 84 RBIs. Between 2012 and 2015, he won four straight Silver Slugger Awards.

But after that run, Andrew McCutchen's offensive productivity began to take a nosedive. Despite being fourth in all-time franchise home runs for the Pirates, the team traded him to the San Francisco Giants in 2018. Midway through the 2018 season, the Giants dealt him to the New York Yankees.

2018 marked the end of Andrew McCutchen's eight-year streak of 20 or more home runs per season. At the end of 2018, McCutchen signed a three-year deal worth $50 million with the Philadelphia Phillies, the bitter cross-state rivals of his former team.

McCutchen played for the Phillies from 2019 to 2021 but never finished a season with an average above .250. He signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2022 season and was not re-signed at the end of his tenure despite hitting 89 RBIs, his highest since 2015.

"The Pittsburgh Pirates should absolutely retire Andrew McCutchen No. 22 the final homestand of this season." - @ Colin Dunlap

Andrew McCutchen looks to be coming home

In January 2023, it was announced that McCutchen would be signing a one-year deal worth $5 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates, marking a return to the team where he began his career. Similar to Albert Pujols, it looks as though McCutchen is set to end his career with the team where he enjoyed the best years of his career.