The Andrew McCutchen era in Pittsburgh is over with the Bucs trading their icon and leader to San Francisco as Pirates GM Neal Huntington continues to try to recapture some value for veterans before they leave as free agents.

McCutchen is not the solution to the Giants' center-field hole. He hasn't been even an average defensive center fielder for a few years now, but as it turns out, the Giants also have a sizable hole in left, where McCutchen should be at least average with the glove. San Francisco got bupkis from left field in 2017, with a .232/.292/.338 aggregate line from their left fielders, well below replacement level for the position, so Cutch won't have a high bar to clear with the bat to be an upgrade and could easily give the Giants 3-4 more wins just by repeating what he did in 2017.

His ability to repeat that is a bit of a question, however. Injuries ruined his 2016 season, and he had a stretch in the middle of 2017 when he looked more like his 2012-14 peak again, but he still didn't show the same kind of consistent hard contact he used to make. He could still turn on velocity, but his zone coverage was also diminished, with some weakness on pitches down in the zone or just below it that he didn't have before. The Giants only have Cutch for one year and are paying about $12 million for him, so even with these concerns about his bat, this is still a great pickup for them -- one they can afford that didn't cost them too much from their depleted farm system. A 2-WAR season would still be a huge upgrade for the team, and that would be less than he provided to Pittsburgh last year.

Adding Cutch and Longoria makes the Giants quite a bit better for 2018, but they were a 64-win team in 2017, and they're still not a .500 club on paper yet. They need a center fielder and the rotation is at least one starter short of a full set. They might be able to skate with just a glove guy in center, but their rotation was below league average last year by several measures, and there's no reason to think it'll be substantially better without any additions from outside the organization, although a full season of Madison Bumgarner should help.

The Pirates had just that one year of control remaining for McCutchen, which limited the possible return for him and, as in the Gerrit Cole deal, didn't get an elite prospect to headline the pieces coming back.

Pittsburgh received major league reliever Kyle Crick and outfielder Bryan Reynolds, the Giants' No. 2 prospect at the time of the trade. Crick throws very hard and not very accurately, although the latter has improved since the Giants moved him to the bullpen before 2017; his combined walk rate between Triple-A and the majors was 11 percent, by far the best of his pro career. He pitches up with a mid-90s fastball and has at least shown a hard slider in the past, with limited feel for a changeup. He's probably just a middle guy because he has 40 command, but relievers like Crick sometimes turn into gold via the alchemy of baseball.

Reynolds is very interesting but not a top-100 prospect, as he has yet to turn his physical tools into enough performance for a possible corner-outfield profile. The Giants didn't have a first-round pick in 2016, but took Reynolds with their second-round pick and then had him finish his first summer in low-A.

A high-strikeout, high-walk guy who hit 13 homers as a junior at Vanderbilt, Reynolds has been more of a high-contact hitter in pro ball with less power and low walk rates. Some of this is a true approach change as the Giants have worked with him to be less passive when ahead in the count, but it hasn't led to better overall results. He's a true switch-hitter who shows some pop from both sides of the plate, but, again, not enough of it has shown up in games. Reynolds has played center but is more likely to end up in a corner in the majors, putting more pressure on his bat. He has the pure ability to be an above-average regular with his plus bat speed, history of patience, above-average power, and above-average running speed, but his 2017 performance does not point to a future everyday corner outfielder.