Former San Diego Padres trade pickup Ryan O’Hearn popping up on the rumor mill as a target for one of baseball’s most notoriously tight-fisted franchises says a lot, and none of it is especially flattering for San Diego.
Reports out of The Athletic have painted a pretty surprising picture this winter: the Pittsburgh Pirates, of all teams, are suddenly poking around the middle of the free-agent market. They reportedly made a serious run at Josh Naylor before he chose to stay with the Mariners, have been linked to Kyle Schwarber, and are kicking the tires on bats like Jorge Polanco, Kazuma Okamoto and O’Hearn as “more realistic” options.