{"id":563371,"date":"2026-02-10T01:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T01:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/563371\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T01:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T01:53:14","slug":"pirates-notes-third-base-paredes-mccutchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/563371\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Notes: Third Base, Paredes, McCutchen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pirates added a big bat to the lineup this morning, signing<\/a> Marcell Ozuna<\/a> to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. The agreement is yet another addition for a Pittsburgh front office that has had an uncharacteristically active offseason. The club might not be done making moves, either. Pittsburgh remains in the market for an upgrade at third base, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a>. The team is also looking for a left-handed starter.<\/p>\n

Getting better production at the hot corner won\u2019t be difficult, considering the Pirates finished dead last by a decent margin in OPS at the position in 2025. Pittsburgh\u2019s third basemen compiled a .573 mark, nearly 50 points worse than the next-closest team (the Cubs at .621). Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes<\/a> took the majority of the reps at third base before getting dealt to the Reds. Jared Triolo<\/a>, Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a>, and Cam Devanney<\/a> also mixed in. Triolo is penciled in at the position as the roster currently stands.<\/p>\n

The free agent market has largely been wiped out. Veterans Luis Rengifo<\/a>, Ramon Urias<\/a>, and Santiago Espinal<\/a> headline the unsigned players. Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> is also still available, though a reunion in L.A. seems like the most likely scenario for him.<\/p>\n

Isaac Paredes<\/a> has been the hottest name on the trade market, and Pittsburgh was said to be interested<\/a>, though that might change after the $12MM investment in Ozuna. Mackey noted the Ozuna signing probably removes Pittsburgh as a Paredes suitor. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic<\/a> shared a similar sentiment in an appearance on Foul Territory. \u201cThey\u2019re probably at their payroll limit, or at least close to it,\u201d Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n

FanGraphs\u2019 RosterResource<\/a> tool estimates Pittsburgh\u2019s financial commitments at $105MM for 2026. As Steve Adams noted in the Ozuna post, the club is trending toward a new franchise record for Opening Day payroll. Paredes is set to make $9.35MM in 2026. Unless the team sent back a notable salary in return, a Paredes trade would push the Pirates\u2019 payroll beyond last year\u2019s mark by more than $25MM.<\/p>\n

Locating a left-handed starter should be a bit easier. Pittsburgh has been known to scoop up a reliable veteran or two to fill out the rotation. \u00a0Andrew Heaney<\/a> and Bailey Falter<\/a> served in that capacity in 2025.\u00a0Jose Quintana<\/a>,\u00a0Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez<\/a>, and\u00a0Tyler Anderson<\/a>\u00a0have done it in recent years. Quintana and Anderson are still in the market. Patrick Corbin<\/a> has yet to find a home after a bounce-back season.<\/p>\n

[Related: The Pirates\u2019 Rotation Options<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The Ozuna deal could also close the door on another move. As Mackey notes, adding a full-time DH has ramifications for a reunion with longtime star Andrew McCutchen<\/a>. Ozuna hasn\u2019t played the field since 2023. His time on the grass that season amounted to just a pair of starts. The 35-year-old probably won\u2019t need his glove at any point moving forward. McCutchen has only made 20 appearances in the outfield from 2023 to 2025 in Pittsburgh. He had 445 at-bats at DH last year.<\/p>\n

The club was still in talks with the 39-year-old last month, though he expressed frustration<\/a> about the handling of the situation. McCutchen spent the first nine seasons of his career as a Pirate. He won the 2013 NL MVP award with the club. After bouncing around to the Giants, Yankees, Phillies, and Brewers, McCutchen has returned to the Pirates on identical one-year, $5MM deals the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pirates added a big bat to the lineup this morning, signing Marcell Ozuna to a one-year deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2402],"tags":[1151,5,893,4,10,776,64,4297],"class_list":{"0":"post-563371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-pirates","8":"tag-andrew-mccutchen","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-isaac-paredes","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-pirates","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","15":"tag-pittsburghpirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116043841876233862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563371","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=563371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}