In the wake of the Andrew McCutchen trade, Josh Harrison also no longer wants to be a Pirate

The Pirates traded Andrew McCutchen on Monday, officially signaling that they are blowing it all up (again) and finding younger pieces to groom into popular, great players that they can then trade in the future (again).

In the wake of that trade as well as that of Gerrit Cole to the Astros, while Pittsburgh fans are working through another top player departing and Giants fans cackle with glee at getting Cutch (I assume), the rest of the Pirates’ roster is apparently not too pleased with ownership and the front office’s latest cost-limiting tactics.

Josh Harrison, who has been with the Pirates since 2011, released a statement to The Athletic on Tuesday making clear that he would rather not play for this team in rebuild mode. The statement in full reads:

“Over the last week, many have asked me how I felt about first the trade of Gerrit and now, the trade of Andrew. My focus has been on my family, my training and my camp with my brother Vince on Martin Luther King Day. It is now time to respond.

“Baseball is a business and I understand that trades are part of the business. While I love this game, the reality is that I just lost two of my closest friends in the game. Cole and Cutch were not just friends, they were the best pitcher and best position player on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, I am the most tenured member of the Pirates, I want to win, I want to contend, I want to win championships in 2018, 2019 and beyond.

“My passion for Pittsburgh, what it has MEANT to me, what it MEANS to me, can never be questioned. I love this city, I love the fans, I love my teammates. Saying that, the GM is on record as saying, ‘When we get back to postseason-caliber baseball, we would love our fans to come back out.’ If indeed the team does not expect to contend this year or next, perhaps it would be better for all involved, that I also am traded. I want what is best for the organization that gave me a chance to be a Big Leaguer.”

Harrison is now the elder statesman on the Pirates, and as the de facto leader of the team it’s not exactly a vote of confidence on the direction the team is heading. GM Neal Huntington and other officials have been trying to push an optimistic view of their recent trades, and not tie them directly to any kind of “rebuild” goals.

For the most part, they’ve been reminding fans of the team’s 2013 success story that no one saw coming. Which hasn’t exactly been the most effective tactic since that was four years ago and “we might succeed, you never know!” isn’t the most convincing position to take when fans are bitter about you trading away the two most obvious paths to that success in the last week.

To that point, Harrison has a reasonable argument in that if this season is going to be a “maybe?” season of baseball, that’s not fair to him and his chances to win when there are other contenders that could use him.

Demanding a trade doesn’t always work (someone please rescue J.T. Realmuto, ASAP) but Harrison lays out his argument in a straightforward way, and the Pirates could get a decent return for him while also respectfully cutting ties with a dissatisfied member of their team.