O’Hearn, now 32, has had a breakout career over the past three seasons. He played parts of five seasons with the Royals from 2018 to 2022 with just a .219/.293/.390 line to show for it.
The Royals designated O’Hearn for assignment in December 2022. The Orioles saw enough potential in him to acquire him by sending cash considerations to Kansas City. Baltimore designated him for assignment shortly thereafter and placed him on waivers.
If you’ve ever wondered why a team would acquire a player and then put him on waivers a week or two later, O’Hearn provides the explanation. The O’s opened up a roster spot for other moves, while O’Hearn remained in a non-roster capacity. He had a strong spring in 2023, but Baltimore still sent him to the minors to start the season, maintaining the depth.
By mid-April 2023, O’Hearn was back in the major leagues and has been on the rise ever since. He hit 14 home runs for Baltimore that year and slashed .289/.322/.480 for a 118 wRC+. His 4.1% walk rate was pretty poor and he benefited from a .340 batting average on balls in play, but it was a fantastic upgrade from his previous work.
More improvements came in 2024. His .264/.334/.427 batting line again led to a 118 wRC+, an exact match from the year before, but this time it felt more earned. His BABIP dropped to a below-average .282, while his walk rate more than doubled to 9.3%.
In 2025, a year in which he split between the O’s and Padres in a deadline trade, he again increased his walk rate to 10.7%. His 17 home runs were a career high. His batted ball luck turned again, as he posted a .330 BABIP. All of that led to a .281/.366/.437 line and 127 wRC+.
He also seemed to have less platoon splitting. Like many lefty hitters, he has often battled lefties. But in 2025, he had a .278/.358/.474 line and 135 wRC+ against lefties. That was in just 109 plate appearances and he had a .358 BABIP in the split, but it was an encouraging development nonetheless.
In addition to his work at the plate, O’Hearn provided some defensive versatility. He played primarily at first base, but also logged approximately 150 outfield innings in each of the past three seasons.
The whole package ensured that O’Hearn would get a nice payday, even though he wasn’t quite at the level of guys like Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso or Josh Naylor. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR projected that O’Hearn would land a two-year deal worth $26 million. He has only gone a shade further.
Few predicted the Pirates would be the club to pay O’Hearn. They have been one of the least active clubs in free agency over the past decade. Since then, they haven’t signed a single free agent to multi-year contracts Ivan Nova‘s three-year pact in 2016. Their last multi-year deal for a free agent hitter was two years and $8 million for Get Johannes in 2015. The largest free agent guarantee in franchise history is still the three-year, $39 million deal for Francisco Liriano from 2014.
But they’ve clearly entered this offseason determined to overhaul their lineup. They’ve developed a deep pool of pitching talent in recent seasons, but they’ve had much less success developing their prospects as players.
The Bucs flirted with contention in 2023 and 2024, but without making the postseason. The club of 2025 sputtered and never really felt like it. The offense was a big part of the disappointment this year. The club had a collective .231/.305/.350 line and 82 wRC+, with the Rockies being the only club with less offensive production. Spencer Horwitz was the only person on the team with a wRC+ greater than 101.
Before the 2025 campaign was even over, it seemed likely they would focus on adding offense this winter. The general expectation was that they would do that by trading their ample roster of starting pitchers, which they have done, but they have also been surprisingly active in free agency.
They reportedly offered Naylor a contract worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million before returning to the Mariners in a deal that paid him $92.5 million. They offered Schwarber about $120-125 million before the Phils brought him back in a $150 million deal.
Coming in second to a free agent is only worth so much value, but it’s clear the Pirates are more willing to spend money now than in other offseasons. They are also connected to it Jorge Polancobefore signing with the Mets, Kazuma Okamotowho is still a free agent, and some other hitters.
O’Hearn isn’t as exciting as Schwarber would have been. It’s also true that the club still has the embarrassing reputation of never giving a free agent $40 million. Still, O’Hearn is their biggest free agent splash in years and is shaping up to be one of their best hitters.
As mentioned, the Bucs have also used their pitching surplus to add more offense. They acquired Jhostynxon Garcia in trade shipping Johan Oviedo to Boston. They sent Mike Burrows to Houston in a three-team trade that brought back Brandon Lowe And Jake Mangum of the Rays, next to the lefty reliever Mason Montgomery.
Time will tell if there is more to come before Opening Day. For now, O’Hearn jumps in as a position player in the group who could develop in a few different ways.
The Pirates don’t really have a full-time design hitter Andrew McCutchen currently unsigned. He has re-signed with Pittsburgh repeatedly in recent years, but there are some indications that the two sides are slightly less likely to reunite before 2026.
From now on, Lowe and Horwitz could be the regulars in second and first place, respectively. Horwitz has some second base experience, but that was with the Blue Jays when the presence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. which made it difficult for him to get playing time at first. The Bucs kept him at first base through 2025.
Lowe isn’t a great defender, so perhaps he could see regular time at the DH spot, or Horwitz and O’Hearn could share first base and DH.
There is also room for O’Hearn in the outfield. Oneil Cruz And Bryan Reynolds should have two spots. Guys like García, Mangum, Jack Suwinski And Billy Cook are in the mix for playing time, but O’Hearn playing the outfield could leave the DH spot open for Lowe.
That would then leave more playing time at second base for guys like Nick Yorke, Jared Triolo And Nick Gonzales. Triolo and Gonzales could also be factors at third base and shortstop, but they show promise Connor Griffin could soon surge forward and become the shortstop even though he’s only 19 years old and hasn’t played the Triple-A level yet.
It’s possible the Bucs make more moves in the coming months, but much will be determined by the health and performance of the various moving parts on the roster.
Grid sourceAssuming the O’Hearn deal produces equal salaries over the two years, the Bucs expect a payroll of $96 million next year. That’s small compared to the other clubs in the league, but high for them. According to Cot’s Baseball ContractsIn 2016 they reached just under $100 million, but since 2017 they have been below $90 million.
The coming weeks and months will show whether there is more to come. For now, the Bucs have taken another step toward upgrading the lineup in 2026. This wouldn’t be a particularly notable commitment for any other club, but it is the biggest deal for Pittsburgh in quite some time. For O’Hearn himself, it must be a particularly satisfying day for someone who was cleared on waivers about three years ago.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that the Pirates signed O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million contract with $500,000 in incentives. Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported the incentive structure. Photos courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, John Jones, Imagn Images
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