Jon ConahanWed, November 26, 2025 at 5:45 AM UTC·1 min readBraves All-Star could join Paul Skenes, Pirates amid talks about spending money originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For players like Marcell Ozuna around Major League Baseball, they can probably look at their careers in more ways than one.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOzuna is 35 years old and is likely in the best position he’ll be in for the remainder of his career to get a decent payday, but he also might want to play for a contender.
Ultimately, Ozuna will be choosing between an opportunity to win and an opportunity to get paid.
Jordan Leandre of Just Baseball recently looked at some landing spots for his services and suggested that the Pittsburgh Pirates could be one of them.
In that event, Ozuna would likely be chasing money.
“Staying in the National League Central, the Pirates are a team to watch this winter. After reportedly offering $80 million to first baseman Josh Naylor, and with general manager Ben Cherington hinting that they’d like to add to their payroll, the Pirates also make sense for Ozuna’s services...
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“The Pirates played at a 77-win pace after firing Derek Shelton last season. Not good, but in line with their output the previous two seasons. With uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of Ace Paul Skenes in Pittsburgh, there’s pressure on the team to start winning or risk losing him for a draft pick in a few years,” he wrote.
Reports have indicated that the Pirates are interested in bringing in a few veteran hitters.
After some impressive years with the Atlanta Braves, and with it certainly being time to move on from him, Ozuna might be willing to go to Pittsburgh and try to figure things out for a team that desperately needs help.
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