{"id":554714,"date":"2026-02-04T19:29:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/554714\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:29:21","slug":"mlb-rumors-pirates-interested-in-valdez-ozuna-astros-searching-for-lefty-bat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/554714\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB rumors: Pirates interested in Valdez, Ozuna; Astros searching for lefty bat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"framber-getty-1.png\"<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spring training camps open next week and still eight of our top 50 free agents remain unsigned<\/a>, including No. 4 Framber Valdez<\/a>. Here’s a look at why Valdez may be lingering on the market<\/a>\u00a0and here now are Wednesday’s hot stove rumors. <\/p>\n

Pirates interested in Ozuna, Valdez <\/p>\n

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After missing out on Eugenio Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, the Pirates<\/a> have interest in free agents Marcell Ozuna<\/a> and Framber Valdez, reports\u00a0The<\/a> Athletic<\/a>. Pittsburgh has indicated a willingness to spend, though their projected 2026 payroll is only about $12 million higher than their 2025 payroll, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts<\/a>. The team’s notable offseason additions are Brandon Lowe<\/a> and Ryan O’Hearn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Pirates have a very strong rotation led by reigning Cy Young winner Paul Skenes<\/a>. Signing Valdez would add to that strength. It would also open the possibility of trading another pitcher, perhaps Mitch Keller<\/a>, for a bat. It’s worth exhausting that possibility before settling for Ozuna, a DH-only player with declining power. The Pirates had baseball’s lowest-scoring offense in 2025. <\/p>\n

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Astros remain in the market for lefty bats <\/p>\n

The Astros<\/a> are still looking to add left-handed hitters, GM Dana Brown told MLB.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I would say we are definitely in the market for left-handed bats and we’re still continuing to be in that market. We’re working hard every day to see what we can add. If there was a left-handed bat that was available, I would say that we are in on him,” Brown said. <\/p>\n

Houston’s only lefty bats are the great Yordan Alvarez<\/a>, platoon outfielders Zach Cole<\/a> and Jes\u00fas Sanchez<\/a>, and backup catcher C\u00e9sar Salazar<\/a>. The Astros have been trying to trade Christian Walker<\/a> since last year’s trade deadline. Moving Walker and adding a lefty-hitting first base option would be ideal, though interest in Walker has been minimal. The outfield is another obvious spot to add.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Images Spring training camps open next week and still eight of our top 50 free agents remain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[62807,5,79,70214,59373,54,78,73009,4,2046,24090,64,8756],"class_list":["post-554714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-astros-rumors","tag-baseball","tag-framber-valdez","tag-framber-valdez-rumors","tag-free-agency-rumors","tag-houston-astros","tag-marcell-ozuna","tag-marcell-ozuna-rumors","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-free-agency","tag-mlb-trades","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-trade-rumors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116014021499040982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}