Brewers' NL Central rival reportedly not done adding in free agency for 2026 campaign

The Milwaukee Brewers' quest for a fourth-consecutive NL Central title will involve facing stiffer competition in the division than the team has grown accustomed to in recent seasons.

The arch-rival Chicago Cubs, who have finished second in the division in each of the last three seasons, replaced Kyle Tucker with top free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, reshaped their bullpen with several savvy additions, and added an intriguing arm to their rotation in Edward Cabrera. The Cincinnati Reds, meanwhile, who snuck into the 2025 postseason by earning the National League's third Wild Card spot, added slugger Eugenio Suárez to their lineup earlier this week, and their talented young rotation is set to improve with another year of big-league experience.

However, while those two teams figure to remain just as competitive as they were in 2025, where the Brewers could lose a few wins is their match-ups against the new-and-improved Pittsburgh Pirates. The Brewers won each of their final eight games against the Pirates in 2025, and posted an overall record of 10-3 when facing the last-place finishers. But for the first time in a decade, the Pirates and their owner Bob Nutting (pictured above) have committed to fielding a competitive roster in 2026.

Already, Pittsburgh has swung trades for top prospect Jhostynxon García and 2x All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, while also agreeing to a two-year contract with 2025 All-Star Ryan O'Hearn. Paired with an already elite starting rotation, headlined by Paul Skenes, the Pirates roster now has the talent to at least make some noise in the division. However, according to recent reports, Ben Cherington and Pittsburgh's front office isn't done adding to their 2026 roster just yet.

According to The Athletic, Pirates are interested in free agents Framber Valdez and Marcell Ozuna

Over at The Athletic, the Pirates have been a hot topic today. This morning, MLB insiders Katie Woo and Will Sammon reported that Pittsburgh is interested in DH Marcell Ozuna, who is just one year removed from a season in which he finished 4th in NL MVP voting. Then, a few hours later, insider Ken Rosenthal reported that the Pirates are one of the teams pursuing top remaining free agent Framber Valdez, whose market has been surprisingly quiet this offseason.

Both players are interesting fits for the suddenly-rich Pirates. With O'Hearn, Lowe, and incumbent first-baseman Spencer Horowitz, adding Ozuna could crowd Pittsburgh's DH picture, but for a team that so desperately needs offense, finding at-bats for the former Atlanta Brave likely wouldn't be too difficult. Though Ozuna did have an incredible 2024 season, his numbers started to dip in 2025 -- his age-34 season. He slashed .232/.355/.400 with 21 homers, good for a very respectable 113 OPS+, but a far cry from the 148 OPS+ he averaged between the 2023 and '24 seasons. Given the fact that Ozuna can't play a lick of defense, another dip in his offensive production would significantly hurt his overall value.

Valdez, meanwhile, would be added to the only strength of Pittsburgh's roster: the starting rotation. Already with Skenes, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler, and Braxton Ashcraft, adding Valdez to the mix would give Pittsburgh one of the better rotations in all of baseball. However, for a fanbase that has had to watch their team consistently lose low-scoring games, an addition to their already elite starting staff when help is clearly needed on the offensive side of the ball would be head-scratching.

That said, at this point, Pirates fans are just happy their team is willing to spend any money at all. Though they still don't look like a true threat in the NL Central, Pittsburgh's offseason additions could turn them from an easy win to an annoying division foe in the upcoming season, especially if one of Ozuna or Valdez is added to the mix.