Andrew McCutchen was at PirateFest Saturday, and perhaps no one was more surprised than him. Given the recent reports he was likely to be traded, McCutchen admitted he was following along on Twitter with the rest of the baseball world and, at certain points, expected he'd be traded.
McCutchen, wearing a Pirates jersey numbered 22, signed autographs for an hour and then met with media and spoke publicly about life in trade-block limbo for the first time this offseason.
"I was on edge. I didn't know what to expect," said McCutchen, who has two years left under contract. "But I'm glad to be here, still wearing 22 on my back and being in a Pirates jersey."
In the past, McCutchen has stated his desire to retire with the Pirates. The past week, then, was difficult to endure.
"I don't know if that can happen," McCutchen said. "I do want to be here. I'd be lying to you if I told you none of this bothered me. Of course it did. I'm human. If someone cuts you off while you're driving, you get bothered. To have my name thinking about possibly getting traded, yeah, of course that got to me.
"We all have these dreams of being something. My dream is to be a Pirate my whole career. My dream is still to win multiple World Series. We all have those dreams. Sometimes, with my name being popped up there, it did kind of make me think, whoa, those dreams could be altered a bit. That takes time to sit back and think about."
On Thursday, as baseball's winter meetings ended, general manager Neal Huntington poured cold water on hot-stove speculation by saying it was "unlikely" McCutchen would be moved. The previous night, the Washington Nationals, the team best equipped to package young talent in a blockbuster deal for McCutchen, traded three prospects for Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton.
"Our intent coming in here was to have Andrew McCutchen in our lineup going forward. No one changed that," Huntington said. "It's unlikely someone changes that going forward. We're certainly not going to close the door, but we're not going to be making calls."
How far did trade talks get?
"We took calls. We listened. We engaged," Huntington said.
McCutchen said he was not surprised to be involved in trade talks. The surprise, then, was that he came so close to being traded, yet ultimately he was not (or has not yet been) traded. The rumors started early this offseason, he recalled.
"I was on the plane from St. Louis (after the season finale), headed home, and the first thing that pops on SportsCenter on the bottom (ticker) was talking about me possibly being traded," McCutchen said. "I wasn't even home yet."
McCutchen said he spoke with Huntington after the winter meetings concluded Thursday.
"We had a really good conversation," McCutchen said. "I do understand he has a job. I don't understand what he has to do _ I can't empathize with that, just like he can't empathize with the challenges I could be going through. We had a good conversation. We basically ended it on good terms."
