The Pirates’ revamped lineup will include a longtime Mets nemesis.
Three-time All-Star and longtime Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna has agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with Pittsburgh, noti.group’s Jon Heyman reported Monday.
Ozuna’s deal, pending a physical, includes a $16 million mutual option for 2027 and a $1.5 million buyout, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The 35-year-old was at the forefront of trade rumors last season, given his looming free agency and the Braves’ disappointing 2025 season, which saw the team miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
“Business is business,” Ozuna said to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last March. “I don’t want to think like, ‘What about if they sign me or not?’ I just want to play and give my best to my teammates.”
He ultimately stayed put at the trade deadline, slashing a solid .232/.355/.400 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs (114 wRC+) across 137 games.
Ozuna’s stellar six-year run in Atlanta saw him lead the National League in homers and RBIs during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and a pair of elite offensive seasons in 2023 and ’24.
He recorded 40 home runs and 100 RBIs in 2023 and followed it up with 39 bombs and 104 RBIs in 2024, earning his third career All-Star nod.
Ozuna adds serious power to a Pittsburgh team that signed left-handed slugger Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million pact and acquired veteran infielder Brandon Lowe in a three-team deal with the Rays and Astros.
The former Marlins and Cardinals outfielder is strictly a designated hitter at this point in his career, last appearing in the field during the 2023 campaign.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
