PITTSBURGH — Three days after acquiring Brandon Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pirates have doubled down on their pre-Christmas spending, signing free agent outfielder/first baseman Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million contract with incentives, sources told the Post-Gazette.

O’Hearn, 32, batted .281 with 17 homers, 63 RBIs and an .803 OPS with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres in 2025. He’s a lefty who started 75 games at first base and 23 games in the outfield, primarily in left field. He also started 46 games at designated hitter, so the Pirates will have options on where to play him.

It’s a significant signing, and fills a need that general manager Ben Cherington had been looking to address all offseason.

“We’d like to add another, let’s say, proven bat somewhere on the roster,” Cherington said Saturday. “Whether that’s outfield, whether that’s corner infield or whether that’s DH, not sure. I think we just got to keep working it and pursuing all the angles.”

Tuesday’s signing shows that their work has been successful.

The Pirates have options on how they use O’Hearn. Like Spencer Horwitz, O’Hearn is a left-handed first baseman, though unlike Horwitz, O’Hearn doesn’t have significant splits against left-handed pitchers. Because of that, O’Hearn could be the Pirates’ starting first baseman against lefties.

O’Hearn could also play in the outfield. He was average defensively there, but he’d be an offensive upgrade in left field. The Pirates currently do not have a full-time designated hitter, so O’Hearn will likely spend time there, as well.

Regardless of where he ends up playing, O’Hearn is an upgrade to an offense that is receiving a major makeover. With O’Hearn, Lowe, Jake Mangum, Jhostynxon Garcia and eventually top prospect Konnor Griffin, the Pirates project to have a significantly different lineup in 2026. It’s also far more left-handed than it was in 2025, which will play better at PNC Park.

The signing also represents a change in how the Pirates have done business recently. O’Hearn is the Pirates’ first multi-year free-agent signing since Ivan Nova signed a three-year, $26 million contract in December 2016. It’s the largest contract the Pirates have ever given a free-agent position player.

While the Pirates have offered free agents multi-year contracts, including pursuing Kyle Schwarber earlier this offseason, O’Hearn is the first free agent to actually come to terms with the club on a multi-year deal.

While payroll will start to become a factor — adding O’Hearn’s salary to MLB Spreadsheet’s projection puts the Pirates between $90 and $95 million in payroll — signing O’Hearn may not be the last move the Pirates make. They’ll likely have less flexibility, but it doesn’t mean they’re definitively done.

The Pirates see they can compete in 2026, and their recent actions back it up.

“What’s been great is just the level of clarity, I think, as an organization we have about the opportunity in front of us,” Cherington said Saturday. “Bob [Nutting] and I have been really aligned on that and with the belief of what we can accomplish, and knowing that we ought to be out there pursuing aggressively in ways that we can, ways to improve the team.

“We’ve done that in more aggressive ways in free agency this offseason than during the time I’ve been here. You’re not going to land everything, but it’s a good feeling to be aligned and for that to be really clear.”

Tuesday was an example of that. The Pirates aren’t a finished product, but their team at Christmas looks stronger than it did at Thanksgiving.

“We just all appreciate that support [from ownership], and we’re looking forward to doing more,” Cherington said Saturday. “I mean, we haven’t hit Christmas yet and there’s a lot more out there for us.”

The Pirates have talked plenty this offseason. This time, they’re turning talk into reality.

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