PITTSBURGH — Pirates fans probably didn't need another reason to laugh or smile after Tuesday's 9-4 victory against the Padres at PNC Park, but Andrew McCutchen provided one anyway, cracking a joke in light of an absurd trade rumor from Monday that involved the franchise's most popular player in decades.
In short, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported that the Texas Rangers called the Pirates to explore potentially acquiring McCutchen (and possibly a pitcher). He also said McCutchen made a very interesting trade candidate. Lastly, Morosi floated that McCutchen could be traded before reuniting with the Pirates again next offseason.
The problem: McCutchen, unless something changes, isn't actually a trade candidate.
Not in his mind and not in that of the Pirates.
"What, you guys didn't see the hug watch in the dugout?" McCutchen joked postgame when asked about the reports. (For the sake of clarity, there was no actual hug watch.)
McCutchen, who told the Post-Gazette in no uncertain terms a couple weeks ago that he only wants to play in Pittsburgh, reiterated his stance following Tuesday's game.
"I've vocalized how I feel about being here and the reason why I came back," McCutchen said. "That stance hasn't changed. I still want to be here, regardless. At the same time, that's out of my control."
Sure, the Pirates could still elect to trade McCutchen, but why? The return would never outweigh the damage done to the fan base and any sort of trust it might have in the team. If McCutchen decides that he wants to chase a World Series ring, there's a possible exit strategy there that everyone would understand. But it certainly doesn't seem like that's the case.
So, for now, McCutchen is more than happy to focus on the issue at hand, which is playing better baseball and getting back in the division race.
"We have to prepare and do our best to win ballgames and get ourselves back in this race because we're not far away from it," McCutchen said. "Anything can happen in this division. We all know that."
Unfortunately, anything can also happen on social media. This whole scenario seemed to reinforce that, as well.
"That's just what Twitter does, right?" McCutchen said. "You get around this time of the season, people are going to start talking. You have to kind of take it with a grain of salt.
"This is something I don't need to worry about."
