PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s tough. Andrew McCutchen is one of the all-time great Pirates and still wants to play. He has represented the organization and city with class and will forever be the leader of the return to post-season baseball. These things often get messy.
Pirates GM Ben Cherington and owner Bob Nutting made a business decision Monday signing Marcell Ozuna for one-year, $12 million with an option for 2027. The numbers show, over the last three seasons, Ozuna is better.
McCutchen removed Pirates references from his social media in the immediate aftermath. He was previously upset thinking the organization should have invited him to PiratesFest in January where he could talk to fans. McCutchen said Pirates management had no communication with his in the offseason to discuss their intentions. Likely McCutchen was a fallback in case they signed someone else.
They ended up signing someone else.
There are hurt feelings. Who knows how long it will be until we see McCutchen back at PNC Park, unless he plays for another team. The last three seasons with Cutch in black and gold have been joyous. An ovation before every at bat and occasionally standing applause for one of the best to ever wear the Bucs uniform.
This isn’t unique to the Pirates. It’s hard to find an apples-to-apples comparable with the Penguins, although the team did decide to expose three-time Stanley Cup champion and fan favorite Marc-Andre Fleury to the expansion draft.
Several times the Steelers made these decisions.
Franco Harris
He caught the Immaculate Reception. He was the Steelers first Super Bowl MVP. He was their all-time leading rusher and a Hall of Famer, as much a person as a player. Harris was 34-years-old and coming off his first 1,000-yard season in three years, although his yards per attempt were a career-low 3.6. Harris was released and played eight games with Seattle totaling 170 yards and that vision of him in a Seattle uniform is still jarring. Walter Abercrombie and Frank Pollard became the leading rushers.
Troy Polamalu
One of the greatest safeties in the history of the game, he was also 34 and felt like he had a lot of football left. After 12 seasons and a year removed from a Pro Bowl, Steelers thought Polamalu was done after 12 games and 61 tackles and one forced turnover. They would end up with 33-year-old strong safety Will Allen starting 13 games after Polamalu with 80 tackles, three forced turnovers and four sacks. This strained the Polamalu’s relationship with the organization for years.
Hines Ward
Coming off a career-low 46 receptions for 381 yards and averaging 8.3 per catch, Ward still thought he could play at 36-years-old. He was seven years removed from being the Super Bowl XL MVP, but Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace were each coming off 1,000-yard seasons and Emmanuel Sanders was pushing. No one got more out his career than Ward, but the Steelers made the decision to go with youth.
Mike Webster
A four-time Super Bowl champion, he started 192 straight games for the Steelers. After taking over for Ray Mansfield, Webster was a nine-time Pro Bowler, but in 1989, Dermontti Dawson was waiting to take over and the 37-year-old Webster went on to play a pair of seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Dawson would join Webster in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Alan Faneca
Two years before he left, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer rolled and made the block that set Willie Parker free for a 75-yard touchdown in Super Bowl XL. For seven straight years he was All-Pro, but at 32-years-old, the Steelers went with Chris Kemoeatu and would go to a pair of Super Bowls without their all-time great. Faneca would have two Pro Bowl seasons with the Jets and then finish at Arizona.
Joey Porter
A year after being the emotional leader of the Super Bowl XL championship run, Steelers released Joey Porter at age 30. In his second season at Miami, Porter had 17.5 sacks and was back in the Pro Bowl and Second Team All-Pro. After 60 sacks with the Steelers, he would have 38 in five seasons after leaving Pittsburgh. Porter was replaced by James Harrison.
While relations with Webster were always strained in a complicated situation, all of the other players returned for reunions-Porter became a Steelers coach and Harris a Steelers ambassador and one of three to have his number retired.
No one will wear number 22 again for the Pirates. It hurts now, it should, but likely McCutchen will return for a grand celebration and the Pirates will benefit by adding Ozuna.