So will this mean O’Hearn will have to play LF? Yikes
Who’s Mike Rodriguez?
Dont hate it. Cutch is gone tho. Wish he could get his farewell but… cant fit that onto this roster.
Considering that his previous tweet was the fake story about the halftime show, I’d pump the breaks a hair
Nice. Actually signed the guy that this team needed the least. Lovely.
Clevinger and Ozuna. What a stacked piece of shit locker room
The Pirates have identified a new Moneyball market ineffeciency, sign all the woman beaters for cheap!
He’s PROBABLY an upgrade over Cutch. Probably. He certainly has potential to be a lot better. If he repeats his 2025 he is a very slight upgrade but he has had tons of ups and downs in his career and there’s plenty of reason to think he could wind up hitting closer to 30 than 15 HR which is potential you simply don’t have with Cutch.
But it’s hardly a sure thing, and if it doesn’t work out, it is an absolutely ATROCIOUS look to kick Cutch to the curb for this. This is one that simply HAS to work out when there was a very obvious and beloved pseudo-in-house alternative.
well, I guess Cutch is done
If we get anything close to 23-24 Ozuna, this will help our offense. Worry about defense later, let’s start putting some runs on the board.
Great! Another domestic abuser
I’m glad we have him because he can hit but I really have no idea how we’re going to get all these guys in the lineup at once.
A Reynolds/Cruz/O’hearn OF is easily the worst defensive OF in baseball.
Well they are trying. I can atleast give them that. Looks like the smoke around them “interested” in so and so was actually legit.
Man does BC love signing scumbags
Off the field antics aside, he hit 40 and 39 homers in 2023 and 2024, and played through a hip tear almost all of last season.
He should be a solid addition to the offense. Even with a torn hip last season his 21 homers would’ve led the Pirates.
In terms of real baseball and just baseball, i do like the move.
Even with a *torn hip* Marcell Ozuna wouldve been the the pirates 1st or 2nd best hitters on the team last yr. with a TORN HIP.
assuming he is healed up, i see no reason why he shouldnt be a real life actual feared hitter that we havent seen on the pirates since, what, 2019 Rabbit Ball Josh Bell?
Obviously moving on from cutch for a guy with a domestic abuse on his resume is as clear of Bad Juju as you can imagine.
i’m also not that worried about Ohearn in the LF. guys get hurt. “The ideal lineup” being clunky will take care of itself when Horwitz strains a hammy, Ozuna gets sick, whatever. Even if nobody ever gets hurt, i think the runs created by the situation will outscore the runs sacrificed by ohearn in LF.
so yeah. baseballwise i like the move. still need an infielder tho. but as far as “juju” it doesnt *feel* good.
Is there still room to stash Cutch on the bench, assuming Suwinski is cut, Password/Konnor start in AAA, & they pick up a 3B? Haven’t looked at the projected 26-man yet, but it seems pretty full.
Looked at it: Nope, no room for Cutch. Even if they dont acquire a 3B, they need bench room for a backup infielder.
Not an Ozuna defender in general cuz there’s smoke but the comments on here seem to ignore the fact that Ozuna had the charges dropped and stayed in the lineup in Atlanta because the charges that the cops claimed didn’t match the actual body cam footage.
Huge news if it were 2018
Jon Heyman says 1 year $12M.
So, against LH, O’Hearn at first, Mangum LF. Against RH, OHearn plays LF. Also might occasionally sit Cruz and play Horwitz or Ozuna at first. Not ideal, but does bring right-handed power.
Horwitz, Reynolds, OHearn, Lowe, Ozuna, Cruz is a pretty decent lineup. Throw Griffin in the middle of it and it gets exciting.
Marcell Ozuna battled a right hip injury during the 2025 season. He first sustained the injury in mid-April, which included a tear, but opted to play through pain for much of the season rather than going on the injured list.
If hes healthy he could really help this line up. Fuck defense lets score some runs and bitch about it later.
This is a good signing from a baseball perspective. We desperately needed power from the right side.
Braves fan here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was closer to his 2023 and 2024 form (when he was one of the ~3 best DHs in baseball) than what we got last year. He played most of 2025 through a hip injury that clearly sapped him of power and made him extremely passive at the plate. He has zero defensive utility at this point. He took some pregame reps at 1B the last few years but didn’t play an inning there in any spring training or regular season game. He hasn’t played the outfield in years, either.
I’m a little surprised he got >$10M given the uncertainty of what he looks like after 2025, the lack of defensive home, and the off-field stuff, which I won’t tell you how to judge. But I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he was a 130 wRC+ bat this year, which might make him the best hitter in your lineup.
Cherington collecting bad defenders and DH types like Infinity Stones.
Kinda wild when you realize that the offense is going to have maybe 2 players who are homegrown to start year 7.
Look this is one of the more exciting off-seasons we’ve had as pirates fans. I’m not going to argue the signings.
Remember the days when we would sign bottom of the barrel dudes and were essentially being told “were five years away from being five years away to compete”. So hell spend, trade, lets get all new brand new faces in here.
Love Mccuthen but he was 3rd best on a shit team last year. Hope he comes back, but the guy just isnt the Cutch we all know and love from a decade ago. We are finally bringing in talent to “push” Mccutchen and i think thats a great thing.
I dont think anyone here would agree he should be getting everyday reps, and we all know thats what he wants, that equals a cancer locker-room with a rookie manager.
No one’s asking the important question: Is Ozuna’s Doppelgänger part of the deal??
I mean who needs defense if our pitchers are striking everyone out anyways, right?
A hitter on and off the field.
If he can hit a baseball as hard as he can hit a woman, he’s still a piece of shit.
Oh… Fuck.
He is Ozuna, from the Pirates.
Pirates fans will find any way to bitch about anything even if it improves the team
We are going to have one of the worst outfields ever if Cruz doesn’t improve
It looks like there’s a buyout option for the following year as well, so if he has an excellent season, we won’t lose him too quickly. That said, I believe it’s a mutual buyout option, so we’ll have to see how that plays out. Overall, from a baseball perspective, it seems like a solid signing. Hopefully, they can still find a strong-hitting third baseman.
Awesome!
Why do Pittsburgh teams keep doing this to me…
Do we have anybody that can play the field?
I’m not going to get into back and forth with the weak sticks on this site who never pass up an opportunity to condemn anyone who isn’t “Dad of the year” just for upvotes. Just a reminder: the only game, care, focus we (as fans) should have is on WINNING. Rooting for a winner, watching your team excel, cheering. That’s it. Your team has trained you to believe otherwise but it’s okay just to be a fan.
That said, I’m as critical as anyone on this site about the FO and, while I won’t go so far to say that they’ve made a wholesale approach change, they deserve credit for trying here. The moves they’ve made are all to address the elephant in the room: hitting. This team is currently better than 2025. I’m here for it. They’ve added dingers and experience. They’re attempting to win.
Now go get a starter, keep considering 3B options and leave the door open for Griffin starting here.
What about second chances? Isn’t he still married? Didn’t he complete several diversion programs including anger management classes? Didn’t he complete everything required by the courts? I’d rather have a squeaky clean all star too, but given the choice between a shitty player who shits the bed on EVERY occasion when the game is on the line or at a key moment in a game (insert Suwinski) I’d rather give a second chance to Ozuna.
Reddit pearl clutchers and virtue signalers in shambles over this news.
I picture him going 3-for-4 with an HR and 3 RBI in his first game before the national media starts in on their “trade him to the Mets” bullshit.
Great, now we will win 76 games instead of 75. How about spending some ACTUAL cash, like $25 million+ on a few players? Adding random free agents for $12 million is table stakes these days, barely above replacement level. This is a total nothingburger of a deal.
This presumably means the end of Andrew McCutchen’s career, or at minimum the end of his time with the Pirates—unless they want to carry him as the last bat on the bench and go with one fewer pitcher. I’d have no problem with that if they want to do it. But otherwise this would seem to be the end of the line for McCutchen.
50 comments
Say it ain’t so
So will this mean O’Hearn will have to play LF? Yikes
Who’s Mike Rodriguez?
Dont hate it. Cutch is gone tho. Wish he could get his farewell but… cant fit that onto this roster.
Considering that his previous tweet was the fake story about the halftime show, I’d pump the breaks a hair
Nice. Actually signed the guy that this team needed the least. Lovely.
Clevinger and Ozuna. What a stacked piece of shit locker room
The Pirates have identified a new Moneyball market ineffeciency, sign all the woman beaters for cheap!
He’s PROBABLY an upgrade over Cutch. Probably. He certainly has potential to be a lot better. If he repeats his 2025 he is a very slight upgrade but he has had tons of ups and downs in his career and there’s plenty of reason to think he could wind up hitting closer to 30 than 15 HR which is potential you simply don’t have with Cutch.
But it’s hardly a sure thing, and if it doesn’t work out, it is an absolutely ATROCIOUS look to kick Cutch to the curb for this. This is one that simply HAS to work out when there was a very obvious and beloved pseudo-in-house alternative.
well, I guess Cutch is done
If we get anything close to 23-24 Ozuna, this will help our offense. Worry about defense later, let’s start putting some runs on the board.
Great! Another domestic abuser
I’m glad we have him because he can hit but I really have no idea how we’re going to get all these guys in the lineup at once.
A Reynolds/Cruz/O’hearn OF is easily the worst defensive OF in baseball.
Well they are trying. I can atleast give them that. Looks like the smoke around them “interested” in so and so was actually legit.
Man does BC love signing scumbags
Off the field antics aside, he hit 40 and 39 homers in 2023 and 2024, and played through a hip tear almost all of last season.
He should be a solid addition to the offense. Even with a torn hip last season his 21 homers would’ve led the Pirates.
In terms of real baseball and just baseball, i do like the move.
Even with a *torn hip* Marcell Ozuna wouldve been the the pirates 1st or 2nd best hitters on the team last yr. with a TORN HIP.
assuming he is healed up, i see no reason why he shouldnt be a real life actual feared hitter that we havent seen on the pirates since, what, 2019 Rabbit Ball Josh Bell?
Obviously moving on from cutch for a guy with a domestic abuse on his resume is as clear of Bad Juju as you can imagine.
i’m also not that worried about Ohearn in the LF. guys get hurt. “The ideal lineup” being clunky will take care of itself when Horwitz strains a hammy, Ozuna gets sick, whatever. Even if nobody ever gets hurt, i think the runs created by the situation will outscore the runs sacrificed by ohearn in LF.
so yeah. baseballwise i like the move. still need an infielder tho. but as far as “juju” it doesnt *feel* good.
Is there still room to stash Cutch on the bench, assuming Suwinski is cut, Password/Konnor start in AAA, & they pick up a 3B? Haven’t looked at the projected 26-man yet, but it seems pretty full.
Looked at it: Nope, no room for Cutch. Even if they dont acquire a 3B, they need bench room for a backup infielder.
Not an Ozuna defender in general cuz there’s smoke but the comments on here seem to ignore the fact that Ozuna had the charges dropped and stayed in the lineup in Atlanta because the charges that the cops claimed didn’t match the actual body cam footage.
Huge news if it were 2018
Jon Heyman says 1 year $12M.
So, against LH, O’Hearn at first, Mangum LF. Against RH, OHearn plays LF. Also might occasionally sit Cruz and play Horwitz or Ozuna at first. Not ideal, but does bring right-handed power.
Horwitz, Reynolds, OHearn, Lowe, Ozuna, Cruz is a pretty decent lineup. Throw Griffin in the middle of it and it gets exciting.
Marcell Ozuna battled a right hip injury during the 2025 season. He first sustained the injury in mid-April, which included a tear, but opted to play through pain for much of the season rather than going on the injured list.
If hes healthy he could really help this line up. Fuck defense lets score some runs and bitch about it later.
This is a good signing from a baseball perspective. We desperately needed power from the right side.
Braves fan here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was closer to his 2023 and 2024 form (when he was one of the ~3 best DHs in baseball) than what we got last year. He played most of 2025 through a hip injury that clearly sapped him of power and made him extremely passive at the plate. He has zero defensive utility at this point. He took some pregame reps at 1B the last few years but didn’t play an inning there in any spring training or regular season game. He hasn’t played the outfield in years, either.
I’m a little surprised he got >$10M given the uncertainty of what he looks like after 2025, the lack of defensive home, and the off-field stuff, which I won’t tell you how to judge. But I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he was a 130 wRC+ bat this year, which might make him the best hitter in your lineup.
Cherington collecting bad defenders and DH types like Infinity Stones.
Kinda wild when you realize that the offense is going to have maybe 2 players who are homegrown to start year 7.
Look this is one of the more exciting off-seasons we’ve had as pirates fans. I’m not going to argue the signings.
Remember the days when we would sign bottom of the barrel dudes and were essentially being told “were five years away from being five years away to compete”. So hell spend, trade, lets get all new brand new faces in here.
Love Mccuthen but he was 3rd best on a shit team last year. Hope he comes back, but the guy just isnt the Cutch we all know and love from a decade ago. We are finally bringing in talent to “push” Mccutchen and i think thats a great thing.
I dont think anyone here would agree he should be getting everyday reps, and we all know thats what he wants, that equals a cancer locker-room with a rookie manager.
No one’s asking the important question: Is Ozuna’s Doppelgänger part of the deal??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glgoSW3GKZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCZglp_Uet8
https://i.redd.it/i4gupyqnbhig1.gif
Buckle up kids
I mean who needs defense if our pitchers are striking everyone out anyways, right?
A hitter on and off the field.
If he can hit a baseball as hard as he can hit a woman, he’s still a piece of shit.
Oh… Fuck.
He is Ozuna, from the Pirates.
Pirates fans will find any way to bitch about anything even if it improves the team
We are going to have one of the worst outfields ever if Cruz doesn’t improve
It looks like there’s a buyout option for the following year as well, so if he has an excellent season, we won’t lose him too quickly. That said, I believe it’s a mutual buyout option, so we’ll have to see how that plays out. Overall, from a baseball perspective, it seems like a solid signing. Hopefully, they can still find a strong-hitting third baseman.
Awesome!
Why do Pittsburgh teams keep doing this to me…
Do we have anybody that can play the field?
I’m not going to get into back and forth with the weak sticks on this site who never pass up an opportunity to condemn anyone who isn’t “Dad of the year” just for upvotes. Just a reminder: the only game, care, focus we (as fans) should have is on WINNING. Rooting for a winner, watching your team excel, cheering. That’s it. Your team has trained you to believe otherwise but it’s okay just to be a fan.
That said, I’m as critical as anyone on this site about the FO and, while I won’t go so far to say that they’ve made a wholesale approach change, they deserve credit for trying here. The moves they’ve made are all to address the elephant in the room: hitting. This team is currently better than 2025. I’m here for it. They’ve added dingers and experience. They’re attempting to win.
Now go get a starter, keep considering 3B options and leave the door open for Griffin starting here.
[Called it](https://www.reddit.com/r/buccos/comments/1qw85pg/passan_breaking_star_lefthander_framber_valdez/o3n6kct/)
Goodbye, Cutch 😭
What about second chances? Isn’t he still married? Didn’t he complete several diversion programs including anger management classes? Didn’t he complete everything required by the courts? I’d rather have a squeaky clean all star too, but given the choice between a shitty player who shits the bed on EVERY occasion when the game is on the line or at a key moment in a game (insert Suwinski) I’d rather give a second chance to Ozuna.
Reddit pearl clutchers and virtue signalers in shambles over this news.
I picture him going 3-for-4 with an HR and 3 RBI in his first game before the national media starts in on their “trade him to the Mets” bullshit.
Great, now we will win 76 games instead of 75. How about spending some ACTUAL cash, like $25 million+ on a few players? Adding random free agents for $12 million is table stakes these days, barely above replacement level. This is a total nothingburger of a deal.
This presumably means the end of Andrew McCutchen’s career, or at minimum the end of his time with the Pirates—unless they want to carry him as the last bat on the bench and go with one fewer pitcher. I’d have no problem with that if they want to do it. But otherwise this would seem to be the end of the line for McCutchen.
Nice, Ozuna used to kill the Mets!
Buccs makin’ moves this offseason 👀