Absolute zero is the coldest temperature theoretically possible, but this temperature cannot possibly be reached by any means because no matter how insulated the system, no matter how remote the nebula, nothing can be completely detached from the entropy of the universe. This is oddly comforting and is also the reason that even the Pittsburgh Pirates can have an all-decade team, even without a winning season. You can find the other entries in this series here.
Center Field, Andrew McCutchen: 2009
In the parlance of the times, let’s say this award is an early vote of confidence intended to build support for the talent of his young career. In longer terms, let’s say that while Nate McLouth probably deserved this spot this list is already full of “I was screwed by Dave Littlefield” stories and there should be at least one guy that captures the way this awful decade of Pirate baseball made every serious Pirate fan into at least some kind of prospect watcher. We’d all been watching McCutchen rise through the minor league system and his incredible debut season in 2009 was honestly one of the most satisfying moments of the decade; for that I think he deserves a spot on this team.
Prior to the 2005 draft, the Pirates’ first round draft picks since 1998 had been, in order, Clint Johnson, Bobby Bradley, Sean Burnett, John Van Benschoten, Bryan Bullington, Paul Maholm, and Neil Walker. More descriptively, a bunch of middling pitchers (plus Maholm, who hadn’t debuted quite yet) and a local guy. Not an inspiring bunch, even if hopes were high for Walker at that point.
Then, the Pirates did something surprising. They took the player with the 11th pick that most people seemed to think they should take. He was immediately billed as a five-tool type player with a huge ceiling, and so we all started to watch. He hit well in short stints in the GCL and NY/Penn League in 2005, surprised everyone with 17 homers in Hickory and Altoona in 2006, worried a bit when he struggled in 2007, and injected more life and excitement into Pirate baseball than any rookie had in years when he made his electric debut in 2009.
The truth is, we still don’t know what kind of player Andrew McCutchen is going to be over the course of his career. We don’t know if he can consistently replicate the pop he showed in 108 games with the Pirates over the long-term, or if he can keep drawing enough walks to keep him at the top of the order. But during his rookie year, ‘Cutch became one of those players whose performance grabbed your attention, who let your imagination run wild with the future possibilities. For once, the exciting rookie was a Pirate. Hopefully that’ll mean something down the road, but even if it doesn’t I can say it was something that I needed in 2009.
Since the list is populated with Bonifay era and Littlefield era players, it seems only fair to put one guy on here who will hopefully be the standard bearer for the turnaround that comes with the Huntington era in the new decade. And hopefully, I’m not jinxing him.
Honorable mention: Nate McLouth’s breakout season in 2008 was the last in a long line of Littlefield failures. Why were the Pirates the last people to realize this guy could hit?
Dishonorable mention: Tike Redman, Chris Duffy, and whoever the hell else played centerfield not named McLouth or McCutchen.
