Bombers acquire former MVP McCutchen for prospects

NEW YORK — With shoulderlength dreadlocks and a wellcrafted beard, Andrew McCutchen spent his 20s forcing the baseball spotlight to shine bright on small-market Pittsburgh.

Now, a clean-cut McCutchen is coming cross-country to one of the sport’s grandest stages.

“Just gonna take me a sec to get used to my freshly shaved face,” he joked on Twitter.

The playoff-contending New York Yankees acquired the former NL MVP from the San Francisco Giants on Friday for two prospects. The teams announced the deal on the last day for trades to be done for players to be eligible for the postseason. McCutchen is expected to arrive in time to debut Saturday against Detroit, when he’ll play right field, filling in for the injured Aaron Judge.

“We’re getting a really good player,” manager Aaron Boone said, adding that “I think his reputation precedes him. This is as high a character person as we have in our game and I know he’ll fit well in our room.”

McCutchen already knows one of his new teammates well — Neil Walker, who played with the then-long-haired McCutchen in the minor leagues, then joined him in helping the Pirates end a 20-year playoff drought in 2013. McCutchen won that season’s NL MVP Award.

“I saw him for the three years that we made September, postseason pushes, elevate his game to the next level,” Walker said. “Not that he needed to do that, but you saw him be the player that he’s capable of being when the spotlight’s on him. That’s fully what I expect when he steps in here.”

Walker and McCutchen spoke

Friday morning. McCutchen’s dreadlocks have been gone for a few years, but he was concerned about the beard he’s worn for nearly his entire 10-year career.

The Yankees have a longstanding policy banning facial hair.

“I told him he needed to shave his face,” Walker said. “He wasn’t super happy about that.

“But he’s really excited, I’ll tell you that. He’s a guy that more than anything

wants to win.”

The 31-year-old McCutchen is hitting .255 with 15 home runs, 55 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. His .357 onbase percentage trails only that of Judge (.398) and Aaron Hicks (.365) among qualified Yankees. He was a five-time All-Star with Pittsburgh.

McCutchen has been the Giants’ regular right fielder since being acquired from Pittsburgh last offseason. He will fill that spot for the Yankees, who have been without Judge since his wrist was broken by a pitch in late July.

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Andrew McCutchen was traded to the Yankees on Friday.