#neilwalker

Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen are back together.

McCutchen was traded to the New York Yankees late Thursday evening. The sagging San Francisco Giants were looking to make a move, while the Yankees were looking to add a bat for the team's run down the stretch and likely into the postseason.

It's August 31st and Andrew McCutchen is a New York Yankee. pic.twitter.com/yuIWnZrkeo

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 31, 2018

TOGETHER AGAIN: The newest New York Yankee, Andrew McCutchen, is together again with former Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Neil Walker, this time in the Bronx as they make a run at the American League pennant.

Walker and McCutchen, long-time teammates in Pittsburgh who helped end the Pirates epic losing run as a franchise with a wild-card berth in the 2013 postseason and a 94-68 record, last played together in 2015.

That year capped off a three-season run by the Pirates that saw the team make the playoffs during each campaign. The Pirates finished in second place each of those three seasons in the National League Central Division, behind the St. Louis Cardinals each time. In the seemingly surreal 2013 season when Pittsburgh snapped a streak of 20-straight losing seasons as a franchise, the Pirates edged Cincinnati in the then-inaugural “Wild Card Game” at PNC Park, which MLB had introduced just that year. They advanced to face St. Louis in the NL Divisional Series, falling 3-2.

Again in the Wild Card Game the subsequent two seasons, the Pirates fell to the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs, respectively.

It was after that loss to the Cubs, the Pirates began dismantling the nucleus that had ushered in the sea change needed to move past the ineptness the franchise had seen for the two decades since 1992's loss in the postseason to the Atlanta Braves. Walker, with one year remaining on his contract with his hometown Pirates, was traded to the New York Mets for Jon Niese, a middling pitcher who, in August 2016, would be traded back to the Mets. Walker was again traded in 2017 as the Mets had fallen on hard times. This time, he was sent to Milwaukee. Walker signed with the Yankees for 2018.

This past offseason, after missing the playoffs in 2016 and 2017 and with his contract expiring in 2018, the Pirates dealt McCutchen to the Giants.

Walker's happy to have “Cutch” in his Yankee clubhouse.

"I talked to him (Friday) morning, and he's super excited," Walker said, according to the Yankees' website. "He's a guy who holds himself to a very high standard. He's always accountable and he thrives in big situations and the spotlight. He proved that in Pittsburgh. I think it's going to carry over into this stretch for us (here in New York)."

Manager Aaron Boone's happy with the acquisition, as well.

"This is as high character a person as we have in our game and I know he'll fit well in our room," he said.

McCutchen is expected to be in uniform today when the Yankees host the Detroit Tigers.

For me, it's been tough to be a bystander in what the Pirates have done as a franchise from the Walker trade forward. Things were set up well before then for the Pirates -- the franchise just needed to spend more money to keep thing intact. They chose otherwise. I've chosen not to watch.

Having Walker and McCutchen back on the same team, regardless of where it is, brings some solace to that in a roundabout way and I hope they, together, win a World Series.

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