Padres Rumors: San Diego battling Pirates for 2024 All-Star slugger

If the rumor mill is even half right, this is the kind of move that tells you exactly where the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres think they are right now: one big bat away from making life annoying for everybody.

Mike Rodriguez is reporting that Marcell Ozuna is drawing interest from San Diego, with the Pirates also pursuing him. On paper, it’s easy to see why the Padres would sniff around. This lineup has had too many nights where the offense ends the night with little payoff.

Ozuna, at his best, is the antidote. He just put up 39 homers and 104 RBI in 2024 on an All-Star caliber season. And the Padres desperately need a hitter who can punish mistakes without needing everything to be perfect around him.

Padres could chase Marcell Ozuna, but the fit isn’t as clean as it looks

However, the Padres wouldn’t be buying 2024. They’d be buying a 35-year-old whose 2025 production dipped hard — .232 average, 21 homers, and a slugging drop that made him look far more mortal. If you’re the Padres, you have to ask the uncomfortable question: is this “bounce-back candidate,” or is it the cliff starting to show?

Then there’s the roster reality. Ozuna is essentially a DH-only fit at this point, and that matters for a team that already has to get creative with lineup flexibility. MLB.com has pointed out that teams tried to move him last summer and the market wasn’t exactly tripping over itself, largely because the profile is so specific now. 

The Padres also have to weigh some baggage. Ozuna received a 20-game suspension under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence policy in 2021. Whether fans want to hear it or not, that’s part of the evaluation, too.

So if San Diego is truly “battling” the Pirates here, the takeaway is simple: this can only make sense at a very Padres price — short term, incentive-heavy, and fully aware you’re paying for impact and risk. If it’s anything beyond that, the Padres aren’t adding a slugger, they’re adding a new problem.