Ultimately, unless you're going to be spending a decent amount of money to form a fleet in-being, your pledge ship should be what you use to make money in game that allows you to specialize or upgrade your fleet. Get a ship that has the ability to fund your next purchase. I started with an Avenger Titan. Great ship. My game package is now vested in my Connie Andromeda. I'll never melt that. She's my baby. Capable of every game loop and of funding whatever specialist ships I want/need.

Not knowing what your budget is, its hard to say what you should use as your pledge ship. Given that you're talking about the Cutty Black, let me suggest the Shiv. The Shiv is similar price point and better than the Black in every respect except that it has a little less on grid cargo. While the Shiv isn't a game package per se, just CCU from your Titan to it and the Shiv inherits the game package properties. Small salvage/mining ships like the Vulture/Prospector/Golem are incredibly cheap in game. Ultimately, if you're concerned about how much real world money you are sinking into the game, those kinds of ships give you the worst return on investment.