Andrew McCutchen has heard the trade talk.
He and his wife, Maria, understand this is all part of the game as June rolls toward July, contenders and pretenders materialize and the former want to bolster their rosters. With three children now and their second go-round here in Pittsburgh, the McCutchens recognize all that comes with it --- and this is, well, part of all that comes with it.
“She gets it, she understands and knows when stuff like that comes up you just have to take it with a grain of salt and not think much of it and keep your daily routine the way it always has been,” McCutchen said. “And that’s what we do.”
That’s been standard operating procedure since I first met McCutchen when he was a minor leaguer in this organization. He has an uncanny way to block out distractions, a way to tunnel in with unyielding application as well as any athlete I’ve witnessed. Many great athletes do, but his ability is even deeper.
He also keeps an astoundingly tight circle and each career decision isn’t solely his, but also comes in concert with input from his family.
Make no mistake, as his name is being knocked around the rumor mill right now, he wants to set something straight.
He came back to Pittsburgh to finish here in Pittsburgh.
“I understand the business side of the game,” he said. “I understand it enough. I don’t understand it completely. I understand enough to where you work for someone. You have a boss. You are the employee. “Regardless of what you’ve done; regardless of differences you’ve made, sometimes that doesn’t always matter. … sometimes decisions have to be made that are hard that I don’t get, that I don’t understand. … I just have to do my job which is remembering that I’m just a baseball player.
“That’s the way I look at it. But, of course, I want to be here. That won’t change.”
Also, not changing --- even through this rough patch of play --- is the way Pirates manager Derek Shelton approaches the trade deadline. He gets it, he understands those rumblings and gossips slide into the clubhouse and in between the ears of even the most seasoned players.
After all, social media chatter doesn’t cease; it is as blanketing as that smoke that enveloped PNC Park Wednesday night lingering down from those Canadian wildfires.
“You deal with it individually because it affects every player individually,” Shelton said. “The one thing that I’ve learned, especially since being over here, Ben [Cherington] does a really good job. Probably as good as any GM I’ve ever been with in terms of when the outside noise does start to come in being able to have transparent conversations with players. Globally, I don’t really handle it with the full group, it’s more individually based in terms of what the conversations are.”
The discussion with McCutchen on Wednesday afternoon as he stood in his locker didn’t just harken back to the past. It didn’t come to a stop with the present and this trade deadline, either.
No, McCutchen shifted the conversation to another message. One for the future and making something specifically known as his career --- as is his plan --- advances into next season. He has an overwhelming preference on where he’d like that, and any subsequent seasons, to occur.
“I want to come back, that’s obvious,” McCutchen said about playing in Pittsburgh in 2024.
“It’s not like I’m retiring. I don’t have any plans on it. I feel like as long as my play is where it should be, I want to continue to keep playing. … I’m gonna play as long as I’m accepted, honestly.”