8:05am: ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Ozuna will earn $10.5MM in salary for 2026, plus a $1.5MM buyout with a $16MM co-op option for the 2027 season. The cooperative option has not been exercised by either side since 2014, so that option only kicks in half of the guarantee per year.
7:54am: Pirates and slugger Marcell Ozuna agreed to a one-year, $12MM contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. CAA client contract pending physical.
Ozuna turned 35 in November. The 2025 season was a downer by his standards, but he was still a better-than-average offensive player in Atlanta. He hit .232/.355/.400 with a career-high 15.9% walk rate, 24.3% strikeout rate, 21 homers and 19 doubles in 592 plate appearances. The line as a whole was burdened by a brutal stretch during a roller-coaster season. Ozuna got off to a rough start in April and May, was one of the league’s top hitters in June, then settled in as an above-average hitter in the final three months of the season.
The decline in production coincided with a hip injury where Ozuna continued to play below 100%. It’s impossible to say for sure whether that, age, or a combination of the two was the driving factor in last season’s bat speed, but Statcast measured his bat speed at 75 mph in 2023 (86th percentile of MLB hitters), 74 mph in 2024 (81st percentile) and 72.9 mph (6420) mph. Therefore, his average high-end exit velocity and strikeout rate both decreased. Ozuna averaged 89.9 mph off the bat and logged a 44.4% strikeout rate in 2025. Both marks are respectable, but down significantly from the 92.2 mph and 53.3% marks he posted as recently as 2024.
While Ozuna should be an improvement to Pittsburgh’s overall program, the fit isn’t exactly right. Despite the fact that PNC Park is perhaps the worst place in MLB for right-handed power, the Buccos roster is loaded with corner bats that could use some of the DH time that Ozuna will command on a daily basis. Spencer Horwitz again Ryan O’Hearn had been lined up to share time at first base and designated hitter, with O’Hearn possibly seeing time in left. Horwitz, after a slow start to his season in 2025, finished the year with a miserable .314/.402/.539 in his final two months of play. You are stuck in an everyday role. O’Hearn can play in the outside corners, though Bryan Reynolds it has one of those two areas locked down.
Signing Ozuna, who hasn’t pitched at all in the last two seasons (and only pitched 14 innings in 2023), could push O’Hearn into an everyday role in the outfield. He has a lot of experience on the grass but rates as a mediocre defender there, and is an above-average defender at first. Horwitz has 604 paid innings in left field for him, so he might be able to pick a lefty as well, but all 604 of those frames have been in the minors — half of them in 2019 and 2021. Brandon Lowe to a person that position.
Most likely, the primary alignment moving forward will have O’Hearn in left field, Lowe at second base, Horwitz at first base and Ozuna at designated hitter. It’s not the best setup for Pittsburgh from a defensive standpoint, but the Pirates will make those sacrifices in the name of getting quality bats among what has been one of MLB’s weakest programs in the last decade. Newcomers O’Hearn, Lowe and Ozuna will join rivals like Reynolds, Horwitz and Oneil Cruzgiving the Bucs a potentially very strong top six in their order at least — and that’s before counting the shortstop Connor Griffinwhich is the number 1 consensus in sports and is due to start in 2026.
Bringing Ozuna into the fold also seems to officially end it Andrew McCutchenSecond act in Pittsburgh. He may be a bench right fielder taking reps in the outfield, but McCutchen has played 120 games at the designated hitter in 2025. Signing Ozuna takes him out of that role, and it’s hard to see the two fitting together on the same roster. McCutchen recently met with Pirates owner Bob Nutting, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported last week — a meeting that came after a franchise quarterback expressed frustration with the team’s handling of offseason negotiations.
Adding Ozuna pushes the Pirates payroll to $105MM, per RosterResource, which would significantly set a new Opening Day payroll record. It’s still the lowest total compared to the rest of the league, but the Bucs spent over $50MM in free agency in total and picked up $11.5MM of Lowe’s salary in a trade with the Rays. There may be more moves to come. The Pirates have been in the news for improving third base. That market has been largely targeted, but there are still some creative options they can pursue in the commercial market.
It’s unclear how much ownership is willing to raise the salary, but the team reported a four-year, $120-125MM offer Kyle Schwarber and the accumulation of subsequent additions clearly shows that Nuttting is willing to spend at levels he has not thought of reaching in the past. The Bucs currently have a hot cornerback Jared Triolobut he’s a below-average hitter who can score a lot in the infield, so he could fit in well in a relief/bench role if GM Ben Cherington can find a third baseman to his liking on the trade market.
