McCutchen to attend Pirates fan fest amid trade rumors

Andrew McCutchen spent the week watching his name populate a number of trade rumors and speculation.

For the weekend, he'll attend the Pittsburgh Pirates fan fest representing the club that just tried to trade him away.

It's been a difficult week for the Pirates' front office. It was believed that they were closing in on a deal to send the franchise icon to the Washington Nationals, before the two sides were unable to agree to a deal. Now general manager Neal Huntington will look to smooth things over with McCutchen before the season-ticket holder event begins Saturday.

"We'll talk with him and share with him what I've shared with (the media): We like him a lot. He's been a core part of our success. We anticipate him being a core part of our success going forward," Huntington told Adam Berry of MLB.com. "There are realities of the game. As players near free agency, organizations have a choice to make. Do they get current and future contributions for hopefully many more years, or do you hold?

"In this situation, we held a very, very good player that's been a big part of our past and has a great chance to be a big part of our future and present."

After unsuccessfully trying to trade McCutchen, Huntington said he won't be calling other teams looking to make a deal, but did say that it's not out of the question that a trade could happen.

"Our intent coming in here was to have Andrew McCutchen in our lineup going forward. No one changed that," Huntington said after the winter meetings. "It's unlikely that someone changes that going forward. We're not going to close the door, but we're not going to be making calls."

Despite all the rumors, McCutchen has kept quiet, with the exception of posting a cryptic message on his Twitter account Wednesday.

Selected with the 11th pick of the 2005 draft, McCutchen has spent his entire eight-year career in Pittsburgh. He's a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and claimed the NL MVP in 2013, while finishing in the top five in voting three other times.

The 30-year-old ranks 20th in franchise history in games played, 19th in hits, 14th in RBIs, 13th in doubles, and fifth in home runs.