Pirates make consolation signing after Eugenio Suarez miss that'll have fans split

After missing out on Eugenio Suárez last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates have pivoted to a different kind of power bat.

Pittsburgh has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with veteran DH Marcell Ozuna, per Jon Heyman. The deal contains a mutual option for 2027, per Jeff Passan, and will pay Ozuna $10.5 million this year with a $16 million option that has a $1.5 million buyout. It’s a move that feels equal parts necessary and complicated.

On the surface, Ozuna makes sense. Even in a “down” 2025 season by his standards, the 35-year-old posted a .232/.355/.400 line with 21 homers and a career-best 15.9% walk rate across 592 plate appearances for the Atlanta Braves. He was feast-or-famine — scorching in April and May, ice cold in June, then steady but unspectacular the rest of the way — yet still finished as a better-than-average offensive performer.

For a Pirates lineup that hasn’t produced a league-average wRC+ since 2014, that kind of thump matters. But this still isn’t a clean fit. Ozuna hasn’t meaningfully played the field in years. He’s essentially a full-time designated hitter. That creates a ripple effect on a roster already juggling DH and first base reps between Spencer Horwitz and Ryan O’Hearn.

There's also the Andrew McCutchen of it all. Adding Ozuna likely complicates a reunion with the Pirates' franchise icon. Both are right-handed bats best suited for DH. If it becomes a choice between sentiment and production, the Pirates appear to have tipped their hand toward the latter.

Pirates land Marcell Ozuna after missing on Eugenio Suárez, but the fit isn't clean

From a baseball standpoint, the logic is clear: lean into the strength of the pitching staff — headlined by Paul Skenes — and finally try to score enough runs to matter. An offense featuring Bryan Reynolds, Horwitz, O’Hearn, Ozuna, Brandon Lowe and eventually Konnor Griffin is undeniably more formidable than anything Pittsburgh has run out in recent seasons.

From a roster-construction standpoint, it’s messy. But from a fan standpoint, it depends what you value more: cleaner fits and better defense, or finally adding legitimate power to a lineup that’s been punchless for over a decade.

The Pirates didn’t land Suárez, the clean positional fit who would have quieted much of the offseason angst. Instead, they pivoted to a consolation prize who undeniably lengthens the lineup but raises just as many questions as he answers.

Ozuna brings patience and power — two things this offense has desperately lacked — yet his presence forces uncomfortable trade-offs in roster flexibility, defense and sentimentality.

It’s the kind of move that can be justified in a spreadsheet and second-guessed in the stands. And between now and Opening Day, Pirates fans won’t just be debating the signing — they’ll be debating what it says about the franchise’s direction, priorities and appetite for risk in 2026.