Six months after signing him, the Pirates have had enough. Pittsburgh released Marcell Ozuna, cutting ties with the veteran slugger they inked to a one-year, $12 million deal back in February after missing out on bigger offseason targets like Kyle Schwarber.
The move isn't shocking if you've watched the Pirates' lineup this year. Ozuna hit just.203/.286/.327 over 280 plate appearances, a line that graded out 31% worse than league average by wRC+, with a career-worst 28.6% strikeout rate. His only good month all season was June. For a guy signed purely to rake as a DH, that's about as bad as it gets.
It's not just an Ozuna problem, either. Pittsburgh's DH spot as a whole hit a miserable.223/.293/.363, fourth-worst in baseball, while injuries to Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin and Ryan O'Hearn kept gutting the lineup around him. The Pirates simply couldn't keep absorbing an automatic out in the middle of the order.
This is a rough final chapter for a guy who was raking as recently as 2023-24, when he put up 79 combined home runs between Atlanta seasons that made him look like one of the more dangerous bats in the league. Father Time and a swing that never got right in Pittsburgh caught up fast.
Once he clears waivers, Ozuna becomes a free agent and will presumably shop for either a prorated minimum deal with a contender needing bench pop or a minor league deal to try to rebuild his swing from scratch. A rebound isn't impossible given his track record, but nothing this season suggests it's close. Meanwhile, the Pirates have already called up 26-year-old Ronny Simon, who's been mashing at Triple-A to the tune of.330/.419/.470, to try to plug the hole.