Andrew McCutchen all but calling out Pirates ownership should be the final straw

The Pittsburgh Pirates are barreling toward yet another last-place finish in the National League Central division this season, and everyone has had enough. Everyone.

Even living franchise legend Andrew McCutchen, who has remained almost maddeningly loyal to the organization that drafted him at No. 11 overall two decades ago despite their consistent failure to compete, appears to have lost all hope in his team's ability to play winning baseball. That's when you know things have gotten really bad.

Speaking with Jose Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports this week, the 38-year-old McCutchen expressed a desire to return to play in what would be his 18th Major League season in 2026. He has signed identical one-year, $5 million contracts to return to the Pirates in each of the last three seasons, but it's hard to imagine him wanting to come back for a fourth when there's no reason to believe that the Pirates' front office will honor his loyalty by making a concerted effort to build a competitive team around him.

After back-to-back 76-win seasons with no playoff baseball, McCutchen told Negron that the 2025 campaign hasn't felt the same as the previous two – namely, because he no longer feels that there is any promise around this team.

"I want to be there to play, because I love the game, but also love it when there's opportunity to be able to win, and I don't feel like I'm wasting a spot," he said. 

McCutchen is still contributing offensively for the Pirates, but he will be 39 next season. You can't blame the guy for having doubts about returning to a team that has no chance of winning.

Andrew McCutchen joins chorus of angry Pirates fans calling out ownership with comments about playoffs

McCutchen wants to win. So do his Pirates teammates, and so does the coaching staff. That makes the culprit for Pittsburgh's organizational failure pretty darn obvious – the front office, beginning with principal owner Bob Nutting.

The Pirates consistently rank near the bottom of the league in total team payroll while Nutting pockets whatever revenue he can without investing any of it back into the roster. That fact isn't lost on anyone – including McCutchen.

"You gotta pay to win, because it's not always going to be the team that doesn't spend as much that ends up in the playoffs," McCutchen said (via Negron). "Very rarely does that happen... For us, it hasn't happened. There has to be that. There can't just be a shot in the dark of 'We hope this happens.' We gotta go out there and make a push."

McCutchen rarely, if ever, publicly calls out ownership to this level. It's clear that he's fed up with this organization – and he's not the only one. If this isn't the message that wakes up the suits upstairs, then Pittsburgh will remain hopeless.

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