The Pittsburgh Pirates gifted fans another lineup addition with a huge reported free-agent move.
Pittsburgh signed Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million contract, as first reported Tuesday by FanSided’s Robert Murray. The first baseman can earn up to $500,000 in performance escalators each season.
O’Hearn started the 2025 All-Star Game as the American League’s designated hitter after the Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers, who was leading the fan vote, to the National League’s San Francisco Giants. The left-hander finished his eighth season with a .281/.366/.437 slash line and career-high 17 home runs in 544 plate appearances.
While O’Hearn notched a .950 OPS as a rookie in 2018, his OPS didn’t exceed .650 until resurrecting his career with the Baltimore Orioles in 2023. He hit .277/.342/.454 in 348 games for the AL East squad before getting sent to the San Diego Padres last summer.
O’Hearn registered a higher OPS (.801) and fWAR (3.0) than any Pirates position player last season. Although the 32-year-old has spent most of his career as a platoon bat, he made considerable progress by hitting .278/.358/.474 against southpaws in 2025.
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By signing O’Hearn, the Pirates continued a busy offseason addressing a lineup that finished the 2025 campaign last in runs scored. He’ll join recent acquisitions Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia in an offense that could make massive strides if Bryan Reynolds rebounds and Oneil Cruz taps into his sky-high ceiling.
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