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The Pittsburgh Pirates have released Marcell Ozuna, ending a disappointing experiment that never came close to delivering what the team expected.
On this emergency episode of OffBeat, Alex Stumpf breaks down why the $12 million signing failed, how Ozuna compares with the worst Pirates free-agent additions of the 21st century and why the team ultimately chose Ronny Simon as it searches for production against left-handed pitching.
The Pirates gave Ozuna every opportunity to turn things around. With the team still fighting for a Wild Card spot, however, continuing to wait was no longer an option.
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"BREAKING: Pirates Finally Release Marcell Ozuna" is an episode of North Shore Nine: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast. Runtime 16 min. Published August 5, 2026. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.
