As you learn this, baseball gamers internationally are flocking to Florida and Arizona. Pitchers and catchers have began reporting. One other annual ceremony: The final hitter amongst our High 50 free brokers simply signed. Marcell Ozuna and the Pirates are in settlement on a one-year deal price $12 million, as Jeff Passan first reported. The 35-year-old DH is the newest in a string of mid-market acquisitions, each in free company and commerce, as Pittsburgh improves its lineup in assist of Paul Skenes and a dynamic pitching employees.
Enable me to say the apparent factor first: Even with their different strikes, the Pirates wanted one other bat, and it’s nice they received one. We undertaking Ozuna as one of the best hitter on all the roster. That’s not the sort of acquisition you usually make with a one-year deal in February. The Pirates may be ranging from a low base, however that doesn’t make it any much less vital that they enhance. They solely have Skenes below group management for therefore lengthy! This deal makes them higher by greater than anything they may have completed this week. There aren’t any higher free brokers remaining, no possible commerce targets with larger potential impression. However that’s not a whole article, so let’s contemplate this deal extra deeply.
Ozuna is coming off of a down 2025 the place he performed by a critical hip damage. It was the newest dip in a profession of highs and lows, each on and off the sphere. In 2024, he completed fourth in NL MVP voting after an impressive offensive season, posting a .302/.378/.546 line and a 154 wRC+. That was his second straight season of offensive success, and for Ozuna, a powerful rebound from two years within the doldrums. In 2021, he missed a lot of the season with a damaged hand. That season ended with a 20-game suspension below the league’s joint home violence coverage, and Ozuna then struggled by a below-replacement 2022 that additionally noticed him arrested for a DUI; he later pled no contest and paid a effective. The Braves appeared for options – after which after all, two years later, he almost gained MVP.
He’s an up-and-down participant, to say the least. The Pirates are betting on a bounce again, and I feel they’re making that wager with excellent odds. The aforementioned hip damage clearly hampered Ozuna’s efficiency final yr. His bat velocity declined by a number of miles an hour after he received harm. His batted ball metrics cratered. That’s hardly stunning given how clearly hobbled he was. Even so, he posted a 114 wRC+, a mark that might have been the second finest on the Pirates. He additionally demonstrated his sneakily well-rounded offensive recreation whereas doing so.
The very first thing that springs to thoughts when you concentrate on Ozuna’s offense is energy. He’s a strolling commercial for barrel charge; he swings arduous, will get the ball within the air, and does harm to all fields. While you play by a torn muscle in your hip and nonetheless hit 21 homers, that’s true plus energy. However there are many highly effective hitters within the majors who nonetheless wrestle. Ozuna has developed a powerful batting eye within the second half of his profession, and it stored him afloat even when his biggest device was a lot diminished.
Ozuna walked 15.9% of the time in 2025. That’s not a typo, and it’s not some bizarre artifact of intentional walks. Pitchers shortly caught on to the truth that he was harm and attacked the zone greater than they often would in opposition to somebody along with his uncooked energy. He tailored by swinging much less, making extra contact, and dealing the depend. However whereas this walk-forward method is new, Ozuna’s batting eye isn’t. This was his fourth season with a double digit stroll charge, and he has an 11% mark because the begin of the 2019 season.
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Ozuna’s projection displays the uncertainty inherent in any older participant getting back from damage. May his bat velocity and energy spiral down additional? Absolutely. It occurs to everybody finally, and the trail of ageing isn’t sure. But when he regains even half of the ability he misplaced, I feel he’ll be higher than his projection.The vary of outcomes is giant – it’s Marcell Ozuna we’re speaking about – however I feel that on a one-year deal, most of these outcomes are good for the Pirates contemplating their offensive options.
Now that we’ve coated what Ozuna may do, it’s time to speak about how he suits into an odd set of offseason acquisitions. The Pirates began their offensive overhaul by buying and selling for Brandon Lowe. He’s under common at second base, however the Pirates are taking part in him there anyway. The pure transfer can be to shift Lowe to first – however the Pirates have already got Spencer Horwitz, himself a below-average second baseman, manning the place.
Possibly Lowe might have DH’ed generally, however then the Pirates signed Ryan O’Hearn, a strong first baseman who can generally stand within the outfield, to a two-year deal. O’Hearn will present some much-needed lefty thump, however he didn’t have a transparent place even earlier than Ozuna signed. Now we’re anticipating O’Hearn to separate time between left subject, first base, and DH.
There are going to be days the place Pittsburgh’s protection is shockingly dangerous. Lowe was atrocious within the subject final yr, -9 by FRV and -14 in accordance with DRS. We’re allocating most of their projected taking part in time at shortstop to Konnor Griffin, the highest prospect in baseball – hey, look, it’s Prospect Week! – however proficient although he’s, he’s additionally solely 19. Till he debuts, they’re going to make use of Nick Gonzales, a below-average second baseman, at shortstop. O’Hearn has restricted vary in a huge outfield. Oneil Cruz is an journey in middle. Bryan Reynolds would most likely be a DH in a really perfect world. As an alternative, he may be their steadiest defensive outfielder.
Ozuna provides to that strain, as a result of the Pirates now have 5 first base/DH/nook outfield varieties as a substitute of 4 to sprinkle across the diamond, however the juice is well worth the squeeze. For one factor, the offensive improve over Jake Mangum or Nick Yorke, the Pirates who I anticipate to lose probably the most taking part in time after this signing, is gigantic. Extra importantly, depth nonetheless issues. The Pirates might need one too many variations of the identical common archetype of hitter, however one too many is much better than one too few.
Lowe has eclipsed 600 plate appearances solely as soon as in his seven-plus years within the bigs. O’Hearn will get his share of days off in opposition to powerful lefties. Horwitz might need even bigger true-talent platoon splits than O’Hearn. Ozuna will want loads of relaxation to keep away from sporting down, and once more, he’s coming off of a serious hip damage. The taking part in time logjam will possible work itself out.
Saying that I haven’t all the time agreed with the way in which the Pirates function can be an understatement. I hate seeing Skenes marooned on a group with a bottom-five payroll, and I hate once they don’t have urgency about fixing that. However this offseason, lastly, the Pirates aren’t a bottom-five payroll group. They’ve by no means spent extra in wage than they’re now, the truth is, and whereas that’s a low bar to clear, they’ve nonetheless cleared it.
It would really feel just like the Pirates are purchasing for a number of cut price free brokers when they need to have pooled their cash collectively and gone after one. However after taking a crack at taking part in Spend Bob Nutting’s Cash (Tagline: Wait, That’s All There Is?!), I feel they did a reasonably good job right here. O’Hearn and Ozuna ran the Bucs a mixed $41 million in assured salaries, $26 million of which comes this yr. The opposite free agent hitters of their bracket? Eugenio Suárez, Harrison Bader, Jorge Polanco, Ha-Seong Kim, and J.T. Realmuto. We all know they tried to signal Suárez. I’d choose Bader to Ozuna given the defensive alignment in Pittsburgh, but it surely’s not like they may pressure him to play for them. Out of the remainder of that group, I’d take the O’Hearn/Ozuna pair over any different, and with out spending far extra money, I don’t see different upgrades they may have discovered.
Now, would this plan have labored higher with extra money? In fact. However so would numerous plans. I can’t blame the entrance workplace for failing to spend cash they don’t have. Working with a restricted funds, they nonetheless signed two hitters who might be among the many finest on their group and bought a 3rd in commerce.
A variety of ink has been spilled about mid-level batters getting much less cash in free company than they used to. The center class of the sport has been getting squeezed in recent times as groups both hunt for stars or construct internally. However crucially, that meant good bargain-hunting for Pittsburgh, as a result of these mid-tier hitters nonetheless represented significant upgrades. Certain, the league may pay much less for guys like O’Hearn and Ozuna and their 1-2 WAR projections nowadays, however Pittsburgh might actually use them.
Will this be sufficient to propel them to the playoffs? We have now them with about a coin flip likelihood of doing so, one of the best preseason odds we’ve given them since we began calculating playoff odds in 2016. In actual fact, it’s the best their odds have been on any date, interval, since Might 26, 2016. This group is badly in want of some hope, and for my part, this winter is offering precisely that.