The Pirates want to go into 2027 with Ryan O’Hearn being viewed as a first baseman and a DH.

That seemed to be the original plan last year after signing O’Hearn, but they saw a chance to further improve the offense by signing a pure DH in Marcell Ozuna and turning O’Hearn into more of an outfielder. Of course, that proved to be a total disaster when Ozuna didn’t hit at all. O’Hearn will probably DH the majority of the time next year and play some first base when Spencer Horwitz is out of the lineup. The Pirates will seek to add outfield help, though if they splurge to keep Brandon Lowe, they might be more inclined to stick with their current group.