PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Tuesday Andrew McCutchen will always be a Pirate. They will never shut the door to a return, it just doesn’t seem like that is right now.
“There is a moment in time that we are in right now in Bradenton today, focused on the players who are here,” Cherington told reporters on Tuesday from Florida. “Focused on how do we get ready for the 2026 season? Given the complexion of the roster, what we expect it to be here as we get into full camp, when position players arrive.”
“I think our focus will be on the players who are here. We don’t need to make any declaration on the longer term, just focused on today right now.”
It almost parrots an oft-used phrase by former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin where he would say they only worry about ourselves and who is on the current roster.
The 39-year-old McCutchen, who returned to play for the Pirates the last three seasons, was bothered by not being invited to PiratesFest at the convention center last month. After reports of the Marcell Ozuna signing, he took Pirates references off his social media.
It seemed as though from what McCutchen said there was a lack of communication between himself and the organization.
What can Cherington clear up about talks after the 2025 season ended?
“At the beginning of the offseason, when we spoke, what I shared was that we felt like we needed to go into the offseason with a singular mindset, and that was what puts this team in the best position to win more games in 2026, really focus on that,” Cherington said. “Be singularly focused on the team, and as we did that work, we would do the best we could to continue to share information with him about what that looked like.”
“We did the best we could to do that. Of course, we can always look back and reflect on communication. There's always ways to make it better, but that was our mindset going into the offseason that really guided every decision that we've made.”
Cherington said he is confident in every decision that they’ve made about what they believe is best for the team. During the news conference Tuesday he alluded to tough choices that owner Bob Nutting agreed to as they move forward.
“Cutch is always going to be a Pirate in everyone's heart,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly on Tuesday. “Respect him and everything that he means to the team and the city. Not sure exactly where this goes.”
“Tremendous respect for Andrew, and certainly our desire would be to have a strong relationship with him going forward,” Cherington said. “Right now, obviously focused on the guys that are here in Bradenton and getting ready to prepare for a season."