Pirates add big bat by agreeing with DH Marcell Ozuna on 1-year contract

Kevin Gorman TribLive Mon, Feb 9, 2026 • 09:11 AM

Atlanta Braves’ Marcell Ozuna hits a solo home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP)

The Pittsburgh Pirates completed the final piece of the puzzle in an aggressive offseason designed to add some pop to baseball’s least productive offense by agreeing Monday morning to a free-agent deal with Marcell Ozuna.

Ozuna will sign a one-year contract for $12 million, pending the passing of a physical, a source confirmed to TribLive. It pushes the Pirates’ payroll close to $100 million for the first time since 2016. The contract includes a $10.5 million base with a mutual club option for $16 million in 2027 and $1.5 million buyout.

The 35-year-old designated hitter, a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, is a right-handed power hitter who has 296 home runs and 948 RBIs in 13 seasons with Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta.

Ozuna batted .232/.355/.400 with 19 doubles, 21 home runs and 68 RBIs, along with 144 strikeouts against 94 walks, in 145 games last season for the Braves. He’s one year removed from a 39-homer, 104-RBI campaign in 2024, when he batted .302/.378/.546 with a 154 OPS , was an All-Star and finished fourth in National League MVP voting.

Ozuna ranked in the 98th percentile in walk rate (15.9%) last season, per Statcast, with a 22.3% chase rate. He’s spent more games as a DH (554) than he has in left field (546), where Ozuna won a Gold Glove in 2017, and has a career .271/.356/.504 slash line with 101 doubles, 125 homers and 344 RBIs as a DH.

The 2017 season was the most complete season of his career. Ozuna batted .312/.376/.548 for a 149 OPS , had 30 doubles, 37 homers and 124 RBIs for a 5.7 WAR for the Marlins. He was named an All-Star, won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and finished 15th in MVP voting.

Ozuna brings power to a lineup that added All-Star sluggers in second baseman Brandon Lowe from Tampa Bay in a three-team trade and free agent first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn in a two-year, $29 million contract to two-time All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds and center fielder Oneil Cruz, who has back-to-back 20-homer seasons.

It also likely spells the end of five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen’s three-year tenure as DH. The 39-year-old McCutchen ranks in the top 10 in franchise history in most major offensive categories but also is a right-handed hitter whose slugging percentage and OPS were last among qualified DH last season.