Pirates Targeting Free Agent Slugger
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have looked at many different free agent bats this offseason, as they try and bolster one of the worst lineups in baseball in 2025, heading into 2026.
The Pirates have gone after a variety of players, like Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco, but they've all signed elsewhere.
A new name that appeared in a recent report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is Marcell Ozuna, who has spent his recent years as a designated hitter.
Ozuna serves as an experienced player that the Pirates want in their lineup, but does this signing make sense for the Pirates?
What the Pirates Get in Marcell Ozuna
Ozuna is coming off his 12th season at the MLB level in 2025, where he slashed .232/.355/.400 for an OPS of .755 in 145 games, with 113 hits, 19 doubles, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and 94 walks to 144 strikeouts.
While those numbers aren't the best of his career, nor do they show the signs of a top player in baseball, he would've ranked first in home runs and walks, second in RBIs, third in hits, fifth in doubles, plus first in OPS and on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage and third in batting average on the Pirates in 2025.
The Pirates served as one of the worst hitting teams in baseball, with the lowest slugging percentage (.350) and OPS (.655), the third lowest batting average (.231) and the eighth lowest on-base percentage (.305).
Pittsburgh also scored the least runs (583) and drove in the least RBIs (561), both lower than the 43-119 Colorado Rockies. They also hit the least home runs (117), 31 home runs less than then second-lowest team in the St. Louis Cardinals at 148 home runs, and had the seventh most strikeouts (1,422).
Ozuna has had a successful career at the MLB-level, as a three-time All-Star (2016-17, 2024), two-time Silver Slugger Award Winner (2017, 2020) and a Gold Glove Award winner in 2017.
He has hit more than 20 home runs in every season, except one, that he's played at least 100 games in a season.
Season (Games) | Home Runs |
|---|---|
2014 (153) | 23 |
2015 (123) | 10 |
2016 (148) | 23 |
2017 (159) | 37 |
2018 (148) | 23 |
2019 (130) | 29 |
2022 (124) | 23 |
2023 (144) | 40 |
2024 (165) | 39 |
2025 (145) | 21 |
His best season came in the 60-game shortened 2020 campaign, due to the COVID-19 campaign, where he led the National League in both home runs (18) and RBIs (56), earning All-MLB First Team honors as a result.
Ozuna spent the past five seasons with the Braves, after signing a four-year, $65 million deal ahead of the 2020 season and then staying on last season for a $16 million club option.
Should the Pirates Sign Ozuna?
There are off-field concerns with Ozuna, who was arrested and charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and battery on May 29, 2021, with Sandy Springs Police claimed they witnessed Ozuna grab his wife, Genesis Guzman, and throw her against the wall.
Ozuna completed a diversion program, which had his charges dropped, but the MLB placed him on the Restricted List, where he missed the final 20 games of the 2021 season, plus the postseason, as the Braves won the World Series.
The Pirates have signed players who have had domestic violence accusations/charges, including pitchers in Aroldis Chapman and Domingo German.
They also kept outfielder Ji Hwan Bae on after his assault charge in May 2018, which led to the MLB suspending him for 30 games without pay in April 2019. He stayed with the franchise through to the 2025 season.
Spotrac has a calculated market value for Ozuna at two-years, $27,416,016, or about $13.7 million per year.
The Pirates have shown big offers to Schwarber, four years and $125 million, and Naylor, upwards of $78 million, so they have the money for a player like Ozuna.
Pittsburgh needs bats for next season, so they'll have to make the decision on whether Ozuna is a player they think will provide that for next season and if they're okay with his past.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.