If this really is how it ends with Andrew McCutchen, then it shouldn’t end quietly, awkwardly, and with passive-aggressive quotes floating around in the ether like smoke after a fire nobody wants to admit happened.
Because the uncomfortable truth is this: it feels like the relationship between McCutchen and the Pittsburgh Pirates has cracked. And Pirates fans can hear it in the words even when nobody wants to say it out loud.
When Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on the Foul Territory podcast that McCutchen returning in 2026 feels "less likely" — and cited obvious frustration on both sides — it didn’t sound like routine contract uncertainty.