Andrew McCutchen turns 40 this October. Yet his desire to extend his Major League Baseball career runs deep enough that he’s willing to try and make a team to keep it going.

McCutchen agreed to a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Morning News reported, ending a three-season rekindling of his relationship with the Pittsburgh Pirates in which the club could not rekindle its days of playoff contention when the outfielder was in MVP form a decade ago.

Though McCutchen batted just .242 in his three-season reunion in Pittsburgh, he remained a league average hitter for the stint, posting a .736 OPS and 104 adjusted OPS as the Pirates continued to struggle creating a contender. This season, the seemingly open invitation McCutchen had in Pittsburgh faded away, as the club signed Ryan O’Hearn to be their primary right fielder.

It seemed a lane might exist for McCutchen to get at-bats against left-handed pitchers, but trades with Boston and Tampa Bay that added Jhostnyxon Garcia and Jake Mangum, respectively, closed that off.

So, McCutchen will aim to win a job out of the Rangers’ camp in Surprise, Arizona. The club has emerging star Wyatt Langford, oft-injured Evan Carter and recently acquired Brandon Nimmo as their primary outfielders, but several iterations remain where McCutchen is a fit, particularly against left-handed pitching.

McCutchen won the 2013 NL MVP for the Pirates and has hit 332 homers that also included stops with San Francisco, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and the New York Yankees.

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Andrew McCutchen stats

  • 2025 (PIT): 135 G, .239 AVG, 13 HR, 57 RBIs, .700 OPS

  • 2024 (PIT): 120 G, .232 AVG, 20 HR, 50 RBIs, .739 OPS

  • 2023 (PIT): 112 G, .256 AVG, 12 HR, 43 RBIs, .776 OPS

  • 2022 (MIL): 134 G, .237 AVG, 17 HR, 69 RBIs, .700 OPS

  • 2021 (PHI): 144 G, .222 AVG, 27 HR, 80 RBIs, .778 OPS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Andrew McCutchen contract with Texas Rangers on minor league deal

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