Pirates cut ties with veteran Ozuna
The Pittsburgh Pirates released struggling veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna on Wednesday as they gear up for a playoff push.
The club made the move following a nightmarish stretch in which the three-time All-Star could never seem to get on track.
The Pirates, who entered Wednesday 3 1/2 games behind Arizona for the National League’s third wild-card spot, promoted outfielder Ronny Simon from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Ozuna’s roster spot.
Pittsburgh signed Ozuna to a one-year deal worth $12 million in February, a rare free agency splurge for the budget-conscious Pirates. The team hoped the right-handed Ozuna would help balance out a left-handed-heavy lineup.
Instead, Ozuna started slow and never found the form that helped him hit 296 homers during previous stops in Miami, Atlanta and St. Louis.
Ozuna hit just .203 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 70 games with Pittsburgh and had seen his playing opportunities cut significantly in recent weeks thanks to the emergence of rookie Esmerlyn Valdez. Ozuna was scheduled to make $10.5 million this year, and a mutual option of $16 million in 2027 with a $1.5 million buyout.
The decision comes on the heels of a trade deadline in which Pittsburgh, seeking to end a decade-long playoff drought, fortified its leaky bullpen with a series of moves, including acquiring prominent reliever Luke Weaver from the New York Mets.
Manager Don Kelly and general manager Ben Cherington defended Ozuna repeatedly, with Cherington expressing confidence the underlying metrics showed Ozuna was close to turning it around and Kelly praising Ozuna’s influence on the club’s Latin players. But with a chance to play meaningful baseball into September on the line, the team opted to move on.
Pittsburgh also activated left-handed reliever Evan Sisk off the injured list and optioned reliever Wilber Dotel to Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Mets to pay $8.1M
The New York Mets will pay more than $8.1 million to Pittsburgh as part of this week’s trade that sent pitcher Luke Weaver to the Pirates for minor league infielder Sammy Stafura, covering most of the nearly $13.4 million remaining on the right-hander’s contract.
Pittsburgh will in effect pay Weaver just $229,412 this year, a prorated share of the $780,000 minimum salary. Weaver had $2,352,941 remaining of his $8 million salary for 2026 at the time of Monday’s trade and the Mets will pay the Pirates four installments of $530,882 on Aug. 24 and 28, and Sept. 11 and 25, according to trade details obtained by the Associated Press.
New York will pay the Pirates $6 million next year, offsetting most of his $11 million salary for 2027. The Mets owe $500,000 each on April 2, 6 and 30; May 14 and 28; June 11 and 25; July 9 and 23; Aug. 6 and 20; and Sept. 3.
In all, the Mets will give the Pirates $8,123,529. Weaver’s $22 million, two-year contract had $13,352,941 left at the time of the trade.