Apparently the Pittsburgh Pirates' plan for future success does not include keeping one of the franchise's greatest stars in black and gold.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen was traded Monday afternoon to the San Francisco Giants. It wasn't immediately known what the Pirates got in return. However, speculation inside City Paper's newsroom is that the players the Pirates will receive come with both low salaries and low expectations.

Cutch helped the Bucs break their streak of 20 losing seasons in 2013, with a wild card berth and an NL MPV award. The squad made the playoffs in 2014 and '15 as well. But the past two seasons has seen the team drop back below .500.

Losing Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen in the span of a week signals the Pirates entrance into a rebuilding phase. That wouldn't be so bad, except the Pirates freaking suck at rebuilding. It would be nice if fans could be upbeat, but the last rebuilding project lasted two decade and left us with memories of "great" players like Pat Meares, Derek Bell and Andy Laroche.

But, let's be positive here, maybe this rebuild will only take 17 or 18 years. Anybody got Pat Meares' number?