The Pittsburgh Pirates released Marcell Ozuna on August 5, 2026, closing the book on one of the franchise’s costliest free-agent misfires in recent memory. The Dominican slugger — who finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2024 — ends his time in Pittsburgh with a slash line of .203/.286/.327, 8 home runs, and 29 RBI in 70 games. The move was first reported by journalist Mike Rodríguez (@mikedeportes) and confirmed by ESPN. Pittsburgh paid him $12 million for a season that never showed up.
From MVP Contender to DFA in Under Two Years
The drop-off is steep enough to make you look twice at the numbers. In 2024 with the Atlanta Braves, Ozuna was one of the best hitters in baseball: .302/.378/.546, 39 home runs, 104 RBI, and a .925 OPS across 162 games — good enough for fourth in NL MVP voting. He was a legitimate cleanup hitter.
His 2025 production dipped — .232/.355/.400 with 21 home runs in 145 games, partly due to a hip injury — but it still seemed like enough to justify an investment. Pittsburgh committed $12 million guaranteed, plus a mutual option worth $16 million for 2027. It didn’t work out from the start.
In 70 games this season, Ozuna’s wRC+ sat 31% below league average, meaning he was producing roughly a third less than a typical MLB hitter. His strikeout rate climbed to 28.6%, the worst mark of his career. The Statcast numbers told the same story: 89.1 mph average exit velocity and a 36.8% Hard Hit rate, both well below his peak years. His xwOBA of .304 confirmed this wasn’t just bad luck — the quality of contact had genuinely declined.
Why Pittsburgh Couldn’t Wait Any Longer
The Pirates entered August 5 sitting 3.5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot, with the Arizona Diamondbacks as the benchmark. That’s not a position that allows a team to keep handing at-bats to someone hitting .203.
Just before the deadline, Pittsburgh made its intentions clear by acting as a buyer — adding Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates, Lake Bachar, and Camilo Doval to the bullpen. With Konnor Griffin, Ryan O’Hearn, and Oneil Cruz already on the injured list, the Pirates need real production in their lineup, not potential that never materialized.
To fill Ozuna’s spot on the 26-man roster, Pittsburgh called up outfielder Ronny Simón from Triple-A Indianapolis. The message is hard to miss: the Pirates would rather give a minor leaguer a shot than keep running a 35-year-old All-Star who stopped hitting. Pittsburgh eats the remaining contract balance plus a $1.5 million buyout on the 2027 option, getting nothing back in return.
What’s Next for Ozuna?
The Gran Oso hits the open market at 35 years old with 304 career home runs and three All-Star selections (2016, 2017, 2024). The recent power track record — 40 home runs in 2023, 39 in 2024 — is real. But what he just showed in 2026 makes it very hard for any contender to see him as a midseason solution.
If someone takes a flier, it would be in a limited role on a minor-league deal or at the minimum. The comeback narrative exists — Ozuna already rewrote his story in 2022 and 2023 after serving a 20-game suspension — but this time the issue isn’t public image, it’s performance on the field. That’s a harder thing to fix in August.
For now, Ozuna walks out of Pittsburgh carrying one of the most disappointing seasons of his career, leaving the Pirates to search for answers in a banged-up outfield while fighting to stay alive in the NL Wild Card race.
