Pittsburgh Pirates trade Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants

In a move that comes as no surprise, but is worthy of shedding a tear over nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Pirates have traded Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants

On June 4, 2009, center fielder Andrew McCutchen made his Major League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On this same day he became the face of the franchise for the Pirates and never looked back.

After nine fabulous seasons in Pittsburgh that saw McCutchen become a five-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner, a Gold Glove winner in 2012, and National League MVP in 2013, his tenure in Pittsburgh has come to an end. This is because on Monday afternoon the Pirates traded McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants.

During his time in Pittsburgh Andrew McCutchen helped to make baseball relevant and fun again in the Steel City. He was the key player to the Pirates ending their streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons to reach the postseason three consecutive years from 2013 – 2015. Also, his 2014 season was one of the best seasons of any hitter in franchise history. Cutch will go down as one of the five best players in Pirate history.

Andrew McCutchen being traded comes as no surprise. He is set to hit free agency at the end of the 2018 season, the Pirates are not in a position to compete in 2018, and after trading Gerrit Cole over the weekend trading McCutchen became the no brainer move to make. That said, this does not sting or suck any less.

The return for Andrew McCutchen is not yet known, but when it is known we will have you covered here at Rum Bunter so stay tuned to the site.

Next: A look at Michael Feliz

While trading Andrew McCutchen was the right move, that does not make it any less depressing and sad for Pirate fans. Thank you, Andrew, for everything you did for this franchise, city, and fanbase. Best of luck in San Francisco, Cutch.