McLouth's Departure Allows Pittsburgh to Live the McCutchen Life

Last night, Pittsburgh G.M. Neal Huntington hammered the final nail in the coffin that was the surprisingly good 2008 Pirates outfield, sending center fielder Nate McLouth to the outfield-hungry Braves for three prospects. McLouth's OPS has dipped a bit from last season but at .819, it's still a good deal higher than Braves regulars Garret Anderson's .668 or Jeff Francouer's .634 rate. The deal easily upgrades Atlanta's offense and keeps them in the discussion for the N.L. East race. But is this deal a win-win situation? Instead of examining the prospects that the Pirates got in the deal (pitchers, Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton, and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez), let's look at the young man who instantly becomes the hottest prospect around and pushes Matt Wieters' name off the tip of our collective tongues: Andrew McCutchen. The young stud center fielder was hitting over .300 and slugging almost .500 for Triple-A Indianapolis this year, stole 10 bases, an...