Marcell Ozuna Signing Highlights Pittsburgh Pirates’ Offseason Failures

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2025–26 offseason aimed to jolt a franchise that’s spent years stuck in neutral. They wanted to push hard into win-now mode.

At the heart of the plan? Marcell Ozuna, inked to a one-year, $12 million deal with a mutual $16 million option for 2027.

This piece digs into what that move signals for Pittsburgh, how it shakes up the roster, and the big risks the Pirates face as they chase offense, try to balance defense, and juggle pitching depth.

What Ozuna’s Signing Signals for the Pirates

Adding Ozuna shows a clear shift from the Pirates’ usual caution. The front office finally seems willing to spend in a market they’ve tiptoed around for years.

With Ozuna, Pittsburgh gets instant right-handed power and a veteran bat in a lineup that’s been begging for more pop. The front office even said as much after the 2025 season, publicly hinting at a new approach.

Still, there are obvious caveats. Ozuna is 35 and hasn’t played the field since 2023, so you’ve got to wonder about his durability.

The team still leans on pitching and defense, so adding a DH-only slugger brings risk. Off-field issues in Ozuna’s past don’t help, either, especially for a club that wants both short-term results and long-term stability.

The Pirates see Ozuna as a high-upside bat who can anchor the DH spot, but his arrival forces a chain reaction for the rest of the roster.

Position fit and defensive implications

Ozuna’s here to DH, plain and simple. That pushes Ryan O’Hearn back into the field—most likely at first base, where he’s looked comfortable.

But that probably cuts into Spencer Horwitz’s playing time, even though Horwitz was their best hitter last year. If O’Hearn ends up in the outfield—a spot he’s barely played—the Pirates risk losing his offensive value if the defense suffers.

The outfield defense was already shaky. Now, with Bryan Reynolds shifting to left and Oneil Cruz still a wild card in center, things could get messier.

Adding Ozuna boosts the lineup’s power, but it definitely brings some defensive headaches for a team that needs to win with pitching and tight margins.

Missed targets and the reality of Pittsburgh’s offseason

The Pirates chased some big names but ran into brick walls in free agency and trades.

Rumor has it Josh Naylor, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Polanco, Eugenio Suárez, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto, and Framber Valdez just didn’t want to move to Pittsburgh. That really limited the team’s shot at a full-on lineup overhaul.

Even with the additions of Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, and Ozuna, the roster still doesn’t have perfect fits at every spot. The Pirates couldn’t land enough top targets to truly back up their win-now talk.

• Josh Naylor
• Kyle Schwarber
• Jorge Polanco
• Eugenio Suárez
• Munetaka Murakami
• Kazuma Okamoto
• Framber Valdez

Roster balance and the analytics behind the risk

On paper, the Pirates’ new faces make the lineup better than last year’s. But there’s overlap, and maybe some inefficiency.

Ozuna brings real right-handed power, but he’s not young and his injury history lingers. Lowe bats lefty and brings pop, but he doesn’t totally solve the need for a steady, middle-of-the-order threat.

O’Hearn’s move back to the field raises more questions about defense and how much playing time Horwitz will actually get.

Pittsburgh has to figure out how to squeeze the most offense out of this group without letting the defense fall apart, especially in the outfield and at first base. When pitching depth is your lifeblood, those choices matter—a lot.

Bottom line: Can Pittsburgh sustain a win-now push?

The Pirates worked within their financial limits and the weight of their reputation. They added some power, chased upside, and hinted they might finally open the wallet a bit—even though this market rarely rewards big spenders over patient teams.

Still, the roster as it stands feels like it might stumble if pressed to keep up a true win-now pace. There are real questions about the defensive trade-offs with Ozuna mainly at DH, and the outfield mix hasn’t exactly been tested together.

Some positions just don’t look clearly improved. That could put a strain on a pitching staff that’s built to win by limiting runs and squeezing out every margin.

If Pittsburgh somehow finds the sweet spot between offense and defense, and if they get the most out of Horwitz and Cruz, maybe Ozuna really does spark something. But, honestly, if things break the other way, all the win-now talk might just end up as talk.

It’s a plan that intrigues, but it’s not airtight. They need health, chemistry, and some savvy moves in a division that’s only getting tougher. Is that too much to ask? Maybe. But, hey, it’s baseball—sometimes imperfect plans are the ones that surprise you.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Signing of Marcell Ozuna — and offseason as a whole — highlights Pirates’ past sins