Veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna is heading to Pittsburgh.
The 35-year-old free agent has reached an agreement with the Pirates on a one-year deal worth $12 million, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending Ozuna passing a physical.
Ozuna would give the Pirates another experienced bat to potentially boost a lineup that was among the worst in the majors in 2025. The right-handed Ozuna hit .232 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs last season for Atlanta.
Ozuna would make $10.5 million in 2026 and has a mutual club option for $16 million in 2027 with a $1.5 million buyout.
Pittsburgh previously acquired All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe and signed All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn during an unusually busy offseason for the club as it tries to give a young pitching staff anchored by reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes some help.
Ozuna's arrival could mean Pittsburgh is moving on from longtime franchise cornerstone Andrew McCutchen. The 39-year-old, five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP, who has spent 12 of his 17 seasons in the majors with the Pirates, remains unsigned after hitting .239 with 13 homers while serving primarily as the club's designated hitter.
Ozuna is a three-time All-Star himself and a career .269 hitter in 13 seasons with Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta. The native of the Dominican Republic has batted over .300 three times, most recently in 2024.
One of the few places where Ozuna has struggled is PNC Park, his potential new home. Ozuna is a career .225 hitter with just one home run in 36 games at the ballpark that has been historically difficult for right-handed hitters.
The Pirates are banking on Ozuna figuring it out to give a left-handed dominant lineup a little balance. Lowe, O'Hearn and outfielder Oneil Cruz are lefties. Outfielder Bryan Reynolds is a switch-hitter.
The Pirates begin spring training when pitchers and catchers report to their complex in Bradenton, Florida, later this week.
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FILE - Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna in action during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, file)
HAVANA (AP) — Katia Arias buzzed with hope on Friday morning as she gathered at the gates of a prison on the outskirts of Havana, waiting with other families for their loved ones to be freed in one of the biggest prison releases by the Cuban government in years.
When her 20-year-old son Emilio Alejandro Leyva walked out of the doors of the detention facility with dozens of other prisoners, bags and a small release document in hand, she wrapped her arms around her son, who was detained for a robbery, for the first time in years.
“It has been so difficult, but today God has given me so much joy,” said Arias, 43, breaking down in tears. “Today, I feel so happy. This is how all mothers who will have their children released today should feel.”
The outpouring of joy from families comes the day after Cuba's government said it was going to release 2,010 prisoners in what it said was “humanitarian gestures” ahead of Holy Week; it wasn't immediately clear how many were released on Friday.
The release comes as the Cuban government navigates extreme pressure and a crippling oil blockade by the Trump administration, which has openly expressed the desire for regime change and the release of those arrested for protesting.
It was unclear whether any of the prisoners released Friday are among the 1,214 people activist groups say are imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba. The government denies holding political prisoners.
On Friday, detainees in the La Lima prison on the rural outskirts of Havana said they were woken up at 6 a.m. and heard their names called out. Hours later they were walking into the arms of loved ones awaiting them in front of blue prison gates.
The majority of prisoners interviewed Friday by The Associated Press were not serving time for political charges, though it's uncertain how many of those released were protesters — often charged with public disorder, contempt or terrorism. Many of the more than one thousand people the activist organization Prisoners Defended has registered as detained for political reasons were protesters from the 2021 mass demonstrations on the island, which were met with widespread arrests by the government.
Sporadic protests have broken out in recent months as the island sinks into a deeper crisis. In one March incident, protesters burned the headquarters of the communist party in central Cuba, leading to five arrests.
The lack of information over releases on Friday fueled frustration among human rights and opposition groups, who said the releases were a good sign, but fell short of real change.
“The government presents it as a humanitarian gesture toward prisoners, not as the release of political prisoners,” said Manuel Cuesta Morúa, leader of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, the island’s main opposition platform. “By doing so, it mixes things up to avoid giving the impression that it recognizes political imprisonment in Cuba.”
The group has demanded a government amnesty law and says that people who were previously freed are often placed under house arrest or live under conditions where they can't speak freely.
During a previous release of 51 people in March, organizations monitoring prisons in Cuba noted that 22 had political motives in their cases.
The nongovernmental organization Justicia 11J wrote in a statement Friday that no partial release can be considered progress “as long as the criminalization of the exercise of fundamental rights persists.”
“Although every release represents immediate relief, especially for families, in a context marked by the severity of conditions in the country’s prisons … we warn that this gesture does not constitute a change in the repressive policy of the Cuban state,” the organization said.
The releases come as U.S.-Cuban tensions are running high. The Trump administration has suffocated the island by imposing an oil blockade, pushing the already stricken island to the brink, crippling hospitals and increasing the number of islandwide blackouts.
Cubans were offered a brief moment of relief this week when U.S. President Donald Trump said the government allowed a Russian ship carrying a nine to 10 day supply of fuel to the island. It wasn't clear if the Cuban or Russian governments made any concessions to allow the shipment to go through. A second Russian tanker is on the way.
Cuba periodically frees prisoners at key moments.
In January 2025, Cuba’s government released 553 prisoners as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after the Biden administration announced its intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Cuba's government said Friday's release marked the fifth since 2011, and that it has freed more than 11,000 people.
Despite ongoing uncertainty, scenes of hope emerged outside the La Lima prison on Friday as families wrapped their arms around each other and a father planted a kiss on the head of his child swaddled in pink.
Damián Fariñas, 20, who has served the majority of his 2-year prison sentence for a robbery, was greeted by three beaming friends waiting for him on the street.
“This is freedom, a pardon, owing nothing to anyone. I’m heading out into the world,” he said.
Associated Press journalists Ramón Espinosa and Ariel Fernández contributed from Havana. Megan Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A pardoned prisoner kisses his daughter after leaving La Lima penitentiary in Guanabo, Cuba, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Emilio Alejandro Leyva, a pardoned prisoner, right, hugs his mother Katia Arias Mendoza after his release from La Lima penitentiary in Guanabo, Cuba, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Pardoned prisoners sit in a taxi to return home after leaving La Lima penitentiary in Guanabo, Cuba, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A pardoned prisoner hugs a family member after being released from La Lima penitentiary in Guanabo, Cuba, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Damian Farinas, right, walks out of La Lima penitentiary alongside other pardoned prisoners after their release in Guanabo, Cuba, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
