McCutchen rips Pirates after GM's comments on uncertain future with team

Pittsburgh Pirates icon Andrew McCutchen doesn't seem pleased with how the team is treating him before what could be the final year of his career.

McCutchen, who's currently a free agent, had harsh words for his longtime team Saturday, hours after Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was noncommittal about re-signing him.

"Andrew has meant a ton to the team. He's had an incredible run at two different times," Cherington told fans who asked about McCutchen at Saturday's PiratesFest, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Certainly his legacy as a Pirate is secure. Everybody with the Pirates, it's our desire to maintain a really good relationship with Andrew well into the future. Then we come back to our team. What is the job? The job is to build a team that gives us the best chance to win games when you're at the ballpark in June and July."

He added: "Our approach this offseason has been laser-focused on what gives us the best chance to win more baseball games in Pittsburgh than we have in the past seasons. That's gonna continue to guide our decisions. So much respect for Andrew. That relationship is really important to us. We'll continue to communicate with him directly as the team comes together. We have more work to do."

Cherington's words apparently didn't sit well with McCutchen. Late Saturday, the 39-year-old lashed out at the Bucs on X while responding to Pittsburgh radio host Josh Rowntree, who suggested that the team should move on.

"If this is my last year, it would have been nice to meet the fans one last time as a player," McCutchen wrote. "Talk to them about my appreciation for them over the years. Shake that little kid's hand or hug the fan that's been a fan since (Roberto) Clemente. You see, this is bigger than baseball! Bigger than looking at a 40-man roster and cherry-picking numbers that fit your agenda or prove why your opinion matters. The fans deserved at the very least to get that opportunity."

McCutchen's spent 12 of his 17 big-league seasons in Pittsburgh, where he broke out as a star and a beloved Pirate during the early 2010s. He was named 2013 NL MVP after leading the team to its first winning record and playoff appearance in 21 years.

Pittsburgh traded him (and Gerrit Cole) after the 2017 season, when both homegrown stars were nearing free agency. McCutchen played for four teams over the next five seasons before returning to the Pirates in 2023.

McCutchen hit .239/.333/.367 with 13 homers and 57 RBIs across 551 plate appearances as the Pirates' primary DH in 2025. In August, he told Mackey that he wanted to keep playing in 2026. But when asked at that time if he wanted to come back to Pittsburgh, McCutchen stated that winning was his priority and he'd "have to take care of my business first."

The five-time All-Star reiterated his outlook in his comments Saturday.

"(I don't know) what the future holds for me at the present moment, but what I do know is, though I am 39, on the back end of my career, I still work everyday to be better than I was the year before," he wrote. "If there wasn't a burning desire to continue this journey, I would be home surrounded by my family, in which no one would judge or be surprised. But not yet. There's more work to do, and I'm not done, no matter what label to you try to stamp on me. Rip the jersey off of me. You don't get to write my future, God does."