Pirates GM calls McCutchen trade 'gut-wrenching' for organization

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington knew this weekend would be a painful reminder.

After an offseason trade that sent Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants, the fan favorite returned to Pittsburgh on Friday as a member of the visiting team for the first time in his career.

"I hope it's the hardest decision I'll have to make, the hardest decision we'll ever have to make as an organization because it was. It was gut-wrenching," Huntington told MLB Network Radio. "We knew the emotional attachment our fan base had with Andrew because we felt it, our players felt it, and our front office felt it."

With McCutchen entering the final year of his contract and the Pirates not expecting to be a playoff contender, Huntington decided not to wait until the non-waiver trade deadline and moved the five-time All-Star to the Giants in mid-January for prospects Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds.

Pirates ownership received plenty of criticism this winter for trading McCutchen and ace Gerrit Cole, though Huntington said small-market teams like the Pirates need to think long term, as well as short term, and tried to maximize the trade value of his two core pieces.

"The reality is, in these markets, teams have choices to make as players near free agency," Huntington said. "Do you pay them what they're probably going to get in free agency ... and how do you build a team around them? That became our challenging point. We could have afforded Andrew, but how do you build around him? We looked at history of other clubs and that second contract and the impact of that organization in the short term, moderate term, and long term.

"We felt that the right step for the organization moving forward - as the separation became imminent that he was either going to leave via free agency or we were going to trade him - was to try and get something in return that we felt could help us win games this year, next year, and years to come beyond when Andrew would still be here."

McCutchen, who spent nine years with the Pirates, received a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat Friday and called the moment one he will never forget.