After months spent trying to shore up MLB’s least productive lineup, the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday were on the verge of signing designated hitter Marcell Ozuna to a one-year, $12 million contract, a league source confirmed to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
The Pirates targeted multiple options this offseason to improve their league-worst offense, whiffing on Kyle Schwarber and Eugenio Suárez and signing first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn on a two-year, $29 million deal. They also traded two starting pitchers: Johan Oviedo (for Jhostynxon Garcia) and Mike Burrows (for Brandon Lowe).
A key figure for the past six seasons with the Braves, Ozuna was a big, gregarious and colorful presence with a memorable nickname, “Big Bear.” He won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and earned an All-Star nod in 2024. In three of his six seasons, he received MVP votes.
The 35-year-old designated hitter was ranked 38th on The Athletic’s Top 50 Free Agents Big Board, with Tim Britton predicting a one-year, $14 million contract.
In 2024, Ozuna hit .302 with 39 homers and 104 RBIs, posting a .925 OPS and 154 OPS+, both full-season career bests. That season he finished fourth in NL MVP balloting. Before that, he slugged 40 homers and added 100 RBIs in 2023. He ranked among MLB’s top 10 over a two-year span in homers, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS.
His .916 OPS in those seasons ranked ninth in the majors, wedging him between Freddie Freeman (.920) and Bryce Harper (.899).
By 2025, a balky hip reduced Ozuna’s power early, and he had only a few multi-week stretches of sustained production that could begin to compare with the robust stats he produced over the previous two seasons. He set a career-high in walks (94) in 2025 but hit just .232 with 21 homers and a .756 OPS.
It was unfortunate timing for Ozuna to have such a dip in performance, particularly after the Braves exercised a $16 million club option in 2025. That pushed the value of his previous deal to $80 million over five seasons — for a former outfielder who played only 14 innings of defense in 2023 and none during the past two seasons.
Ozuna became one of the most popular players in the Braves’ clubhouse and among Atlanta fans, despite a tumultuous two-year period from 2021-22 when he had injuries and slumps on the field and legal issues off of it. That included a 2021 arrest and MLB suspension under its domestic violence policy after an incident between Ozuna and his wife while he was already on the IL.
He was also arrested in August 2022 and charged with DUI. Ozuna reached a plea agreement on that charge about nine months later.
Ozuna’s market was always going to be limited because of his lack of defensive ability, not to mention his 2025 decline in bat speed and overall offensive production. It probably didn’t help that there were plenty of marquee position players on the free-agent market, and even middle-tier options who could hit in the middle of the order. Kyle Schwarber, the top DH available, re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year, $150 million deal, and Pete Alonso, the top first baseman, signed a five-year, $155 contract with the Baltimore Orioles. The low-budget, offensively starved Pittsburgh Pirates opted for first baseman Ryan O’Hearn on a two-year, $29 million deal.