Pirates and first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn agreed to a two-year, $29MM guaranteed contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. An ACES client can also earn an additional $500K each year in incentives. Pittsburgh has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this legal.
O’Hearn, now 32, has been enjoying a bit of a breakout season over the past three seasons. He played five parts of the season with the Royals from 2018 to 2022 with just a .219/.293/.390 line to show for it.
The Royals designated O’Hearn for assignment in December 2022. The Orioles saw enough potential in him to acquire him by sending money considerations to Kansas City. Baltimore picked him up for assignment shortly thereafter and claimed him off waivers.
If you’ve ever wondered why a team would sign a player and waive him a week or two later, O’Hearn offers an explanation. The IO’s have opened up roster space for other moves while keeping O’Hearn in neutral. He had a strong spring in 2023 but Baltimore still sent him to the minors to start the season, keeping him deep.
By mid-April 2023, O’Hearn was back in the big leagues and has been on an upward trajectory ever since. He hit 14 homers in Baltimore that year and slashed .289/.322/.480 with a 118 wRC+. His 4.1% walk rate was quite low and he earned a .340 batting average on balls in play but it was a nice improvement over his previous career.
Further development took place in 2024. His .264/.334/.427 batting line also led to a 118 wRC+, which is exactly the same as the year before, but seemed to be more accomplished this time around. His BABIP dropped to a below average .282 while his walk rate more than doubled to 9.3%.
In 2025, the year he split between the O’s and Padres after the trade deadline, he again increased his walk rate to 10.7%. His 17 home runs were a career high. His hitting luck turned around again, as he posted a .330 BABIP. All of that led to a .281/.366/.437 line and a 127 wRC+.
He also seemed to have a bit of a partisan divide. Like most left-handed hitters, he tends to struggle with southpaws. But in 2025, he had a .278/.358/.474 line and a 135 wRC+ against lefties. That was in just 109 plate appearances and he had a .358 BABIP in the split but it was an encouraging development nonetheless.
In addition to his work at the plate, O’Hearn provided some versatility on defense. He played mostly first base but also logged 150 outfield innings over the past three seasons.
The whole package was lined up for O’Hearn to get a good payday, even though he wasn’t on the level of the guys. Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso or Josh Naylor. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted that O’Hearn would receive a two-year deal worth $26MM. He went a shade beyond that.
Few would have predicted that the Pirates would be the team to pay O’Hearn. They have been one of the least active clubs in free agency over the last decade. They haven’t given any free agent a multi-year deal since then Ivan NovaA three-year deal back in 2016. Their last multi-year free agent contract was for two years and $8MM John Jason in 2015. The largest guaranteed free agent in franchise history remains a three-year, $39MM deal. Francisco Liriano since 2014.
But it is clear that they entered this off-season determined to reform their system. The past few seasons have seen them develop a number of playmaking talents but have had very little success in improving their position player prospects.
The Bucs have played in contention in 2023 and 2024 but without entering the season. The 2025 club blew up and didn’t really feel like it. The offense has been a big disappointment this year. The club had a line of .231/.305/.350 and an 82 wRC+, the Rockies being the only club with less production. Spencer Horwitz he was the only one on the team with a wRC+ over 101.
Before the 2025 campaign ended, it looked like they would focus on adding charges this winter. The expectation was that they would do so by trading from their deep supply of starting pitchers but they have been surprisingly effective in free agency as well.
They reportedly offered Naylor a contract somewhere in the $80MM range, before he returned to the Mariners for a $92.5MM deal. They offered Schwarber around $120-125MM before the Phils brought him back with a $150MM deal.
Being the player who came second in free agents is a big advantage that it became clear that the Pirates are willing to spend money more than in other seasons of the game. They are also linked to Jorge Polanco, Kazuma Okamoto and other strikers.
O’Hearn is not as exciting as Schwarber could have been. It’s also true that the club still has a shameful history of never giving away $40MM in free agency. Still, O’Hearn is their best free agent in years and is becoming one of their best hitters.
The Bucs also used the surplus to add more offenses. They benefited Jhostynxon García in shipping trade Johan Oviedo to Boston. They sent Mike Burrows to Houston in a three-way trade that brought him back Brandon Lowe again Jake Mangum from the Rays, around the lefty reliever Mason Montgomery.
Time will tell if there’s more to come before Opening Day. In the meantime, O’Hearn is jumping into being a zone player that team could develop in a few different ways.
The Pirates don’t really have a full-time designated hitter, no Andrew McCutchen it is currently unsigned. He has re-signed with Pittsburgh in recent years but there have been indications that the two sides are unlikely to meet again in 2026.
As of now, Lowe and Horwitz can be regulars at second and first, respectively. Horwitz has second base experience but that was with the Blue Jays where he was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. it made it difficult for him to get playing time at first. The Bucs retained him for the first time in 2025.
Lowe isn’t a great outfielder, so maybe he could see regular time at the DH spot, or Horwitz and O’Hearn could share first base and DH.
There is also an O’Hearn location in the outfield. Oneil Cruz again Bryan Reynolds two points should be mentioned. Guys like Garcia, Mangum, Jack Suwinski again Billy Cook they are in the middle of playing time but O’Hearn playing the outfield could leave the DH spot open for Lowe.
That will leave more secondary playing time for the boys Nick Yorke, Jared Triolo again Nick Gonzales. Triolo and Gonzales could be factors at third and shortstop but hope Connor Griffin he may move up to shortstop soon, even though he’s only 19 and has yet to play at the Triple-A level.
The Bucs may make other moves in the coming months but much will be determined by the health and performance of various moving parts on the roster.
RosterResource, assuming O’Hearn’s deal has equal salaries over the two years, projects the Bucs to earn $96MM in salary next year. That is less compared to other clubs in the league but it is higher than them. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they reached less than $100MM in 2016 but were less than $90MM as of 2017.
The coming weeks and months will illuminate if there is more to come. Meanwhile, the Bucs have made yet another move to develop players in 2026. This deal would not be a significant commitment to any other team but it is the biggest deal in Pittsburgh in years. For O’Hearn himself, it should be an especially exciting day for a guy who went through a layoff three years ago.
More to come.
