{"id":503353,"date":"2026-01-09T08:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T08:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503353\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T08:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T08:48:13","slug":"all-star-slugger-reveals-why-he-chose-pirates-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503353\/","title":{"rendered":"All-Star Slugger Reveals Why He Chose Pirates In Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan O\u2019Hearn made Pittsburgh Pirates history this offseason, signing the biggest contract<\/a> for a free-agent hitter in franchise history at two years and $29 million last month.<\/p>\n

During his introductory press conference<\/a> on Thursday, the All-Star slugger explained why he chose the Pirates.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI couldn\u2019t be any more excited to be a Pirate,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cI love the stadium. I love the city, what it\u2019s about. I did my research before I made a decision. It\u2019s a team that can pitch and just seemed like one or two pieces away from being a legit contender, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m here to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn elaborated on his research, noting that Pittsburgh\u2019s pitching staff ranked inside the top 10 in WHIP and ERA in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanna be a part of a team that\u2019s gonna win, and to win, you gotta pitch. That\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned in my career,\u201d O\u2019Hearn added. \u201cIt\u2019s not fun being on defense three hours a night. To be a winning team, you have to pitch\u2026and that\u2019s one thing that really stood out to me about this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pirates have plenty of pitching, starting at the top of their rotation with reigning NL Cy Young winner<\/a> Paul Skenes. There are lots of quality arms around him, too.<\/p>\n

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\u201cObviously, Paul Skenes is a generational talent,\u201d O\u2019Hearn continued. \u201cIn addition to him, there are other young guys that have great stuff that are coming into their own, and that was attractive for me to be on a team that could pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn also cited Pittsburgh\u2019s blockbuster trade with the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays that netted All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandon Lowe is a hitter that I\u2019ve admired over the past few years, and I got to talk to him quite a bit at the All-Star Game last year,\u201d O\u2019Hearn added. \u201cHe and I hit it off, so that kind of moved the needle for me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn said talking to Pirates manager Don Kelly also helped. After speaking with Kelly, he called his agent and told him he wanted a deal with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

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Now he has one, and the Pirates are hoping he can help them contend for a playoff spot after making three straight postseason trips with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n

More Pirates: Pirates Reportedly Sign World Series Champion Veteran Reliever<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post All-Star Slugger Reveals Why He Chose Pirates In Free Agency<\/a> appeared first on SportsNet Pittsburgh<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan O\u2019Hearn made Pittsburgh Pirates history this offseason, signing the biggest contract for a free-agent hitter in franchise…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1276,26095,93794,2382,1266,34554,12099,1886,69197,1306,62,1289,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-503353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baltimore-orioles","9":"tag-brandon-lowe","10":"tag-don-kelly","11":"tag-houston-astros","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-paul-skenes","14":"tag-pittsburgh","15":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","16":"tag-ryan-ohearn","17":"tag-san-diego-padres","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115864279670331368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}