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Sources: Marcell Ozuna to Pirates on 1-year, $12M deal
The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna, sources confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The deal, which was first reported Monday by the New York Post, is pending a physical and also includes a mutual option for 2027, sources told Passan.
The deal will pay Ozuna $10.5 million in 2026, with a $16 million option for 2027 that has a $1.5 million buyout, according to sources.
The Pirates hope that Ozuna, 35, will beef up an offense that finished with 117 home runs last season, by far the lowest in the majors.
Pittsburgh previously acquired All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe and signed All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn during an unusually busy offseason for the club as it tries to give a young pitching staff anchored by reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes some help.
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Pirates To Sign Marcell Ozuna
8:05am: ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Ozuna will earn $10.5MM in 2026 salary, plus a $1.5MM buyout on a $16MM mutual option for the 2027 season. A mutual option hasn’t been exercised by both parties since 2014, so that option effectively just kicks a portion of the guarantee down the road by a year.
7:54am: The Pirates and slugger Marcell Ozuna are in agreement on a one-year, $12MM contract, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. The CAA client’s contract is pending a physical.
Ozuna turned 35 in November. The 2025 season was a down showing by his standards, but he was still a better-than-average offensive performer overall down in Atlanta. He batted .232/.355/.400 with a career-high 15.9% walk rate, a 24.3% strikeout rate, 21 homers and 19 doubles in 592 plate appearances. That overall line was weighed down by a brutal stretch in the middle of a roller-coaster season. Ozuna raced out to a scorching start in April and May, was one of the league’s worst hitters in June, and then settled in as a slightly above-average hitter for the season’s final three months.
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