The Pittsburgh Pirates were recently named a “possible landing spot” for free agent first baseman Pete Alonso.
On Monday, Pittsburgh was linked to another free agent All-Star first baseman: Ryan O’Hearn.
ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield wrote that the versatile 32-year-old could be a good fit for the Pirates.
“The Pirates were reportedly very in on Josh Naylor, so the logical transition won’t be Alonso or Bellinger, but the next tier down, which is O’Hearn,” Schoenfield said. “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.”
O’Hearn spent his first five years with the Kansas City Royals, playing no more than 105 games in a season and earning 328 at-bats or fewer in each campaign. The former eighth-round pick then played two-plus seasons with the Baltimore Orioles before being sent to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline.
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O’Hearn finished 2025 with career highs in nearly every notable offensive category, including home runs (17), RBIs (63), hits (133), runs scored (67) and total bases (207), while recording a solid .281/.366/.437 slash line. The lefty also played multiple positions, appearing in 75 games at first base, 21 in right field and two in left field.
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