Mark Madden's Hot Take: Pirates need to capitalize after signing Andrew McCutchen

Now that Andrew McCutchen is again a Pirate, a big switch must be made: McCutchen should change his uniform number from 22, the digits he wore during his prior Pittsburgh tenure.

It doesn’t matter what number McCutchen uses. It just has to be different.

There’s no conflict: No. 22 has been out of circulation with the Pirates since McCutchen left the team after the 2017 season.

McCutchen isn’t married to No. 22. He wore No. 24 for Milwaukee last season. That was in tribute to Ken Griffey Jr., McCutchen’s boyhood idol.

McCutchen could wear No. 24 for the Pirates. Invoke a Barry Bonds vibe.

McCutchen needs to wear a different number so the Pirates can sell more merch. Too many fans already have McCutchen jerseys and T-shirts emblazoned with No. 22.

It’s not profitable if those get pulled out of the closet. New number equals new sales.

Everything the Pirates do is for the sake of cash. Why not this?

Signing McCutchen was brilliant on many levels.

The Pirates are going to stink again and will trade Bryan Reynolds. The return of McCutchen feels good. It will sell a few extra tickets, especially on McCutchen bobblehead night, when said bobblehead features his new number.

McCutchen, 36, isn’t totally washed up. He had 17 home runs last season. That would have tied him for third on the Pirates.

His clubhouse influence on young players will be legitimate. McCutchen is truly a competitor and class act.

The price is right: McCutchen signed a one-year deal worth $5 million. Don a new number, and that figure could be made up in jersey and T-shirt sales. (Just kidding. But maybe not. You could recoup a big chunk, anyway.)

McCutchen is approaching some garden-variety milestones: 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 400 doubles all figure to be reached by McCutchen in 2023. The chase of those figures can all be promoted. (Memo to McCutchen: Don’t reach two on the same night. That’s bad for business.)

There’s nothing wrong with McCutchen returning, especially if you ignore that it’s designed to detract from thinking about the negative that inevitably will follow. People are tangibly excited about McCutchen signing.

But it’s not 2013, ’14 or ’15. McCutchen isn’t an MVP anymore. And what if they trade him for a prospect at the deadline?

The only thing silly about McCutchen’s return was uttered by Pirates announcer Greg Brown, who said, “I truly believe that Andrew McCutchen signed here because he thinks this team is on the verge of coming back and winning.”

McCutchen only signed a one-year deal. The only thing the Pirates are “on the verge of” is trading their best player. But Brown has to say what he said.

The P.S. to McCutchen switching numbers would occur years from now, when the Pirates retire No. 22 one night and McCutchen’s new number on another night. You get twice the promotional value, and he’s not even under contract anymore.

Michael Jordan switched numbers. LeBron James switched numbers. Greed is good.