The Pittsburgh Pirates are serious about wanting to improve their batting order.
They signed a big bat on Tuesday, Ryan O'Hearn.
The signing was reported by insider Robert Murray. The deal is for a reported two years and $29 million.
O'Hearn most recently played for the San Diego Padres, but now, he's coming to Pittsburgh to improve a Pirates' order in need of it.
The Pirates just added Brandon Lowe in a trade from the Rays, and now they get another strong lefty stick.
O'Hearn was a free agent after splitting the 2025 season between the Baltimore Orioles and the San Diego Padres.
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He began his MLB career with five seasons with the Royals, then spent two-and-a-half seasons with Baltimore before being traded to the Padres to close out 2025.
In 2025, O'Hearn hit.281 with 21 doubles, 17 homers and 63 RBI in 144 games.
Earlier this offseason, ESPN's David Schoenfield wrote this about O'Hearn: "The Orioles viewed O'Hearn as a platoon hitter, but he played more regularly against lefties last season and hit.278/.358/.474 against them in 109 plate appearances. It's a small sample size, but he showed enough that he deserves the opportunity to play every day. And the Pirates are the team to give him that opportunity."
It's like he knew it was coming.
There's more the Pirates can still do, but this is a great step for Pittsburgh just before Christmas.
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