The Boston Red Sox clearly will have a decision to make about one of their top hitters from the 2024 season.
Boston didn’t make the postseason, but there surely were some bright spots. The Red Sox made some moves that didn’t work out, but one that definitely did was the acquisition of outfielder Tyler O’Neill from the St. Louis Cardinals.
O’Neill has been known to have injury troubles throughout his career, but he was able to stay relatively healthy and appeared in over 100 games for just the second time in his career. O’Neill appeared in 113 games and was one of the team’s most-feared hitters as he clubbed 31 home runs and drove in 61 RBIs.
Boston landed O’Neill knowing that the partnership could be short-lived. O’Neill will be a free agent this winter, and after a strong season, he surely will have plenty of suitors. Boston likely will be in the mix in some capacity as it needs right-handed help and he will be one of the best options available.
This doesn’t mean that a reunion is guaranteed, but both sides have shown that they at least are interested.
He surely will cash in with Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller floating a possible three-year, $50 million deal as a “steal” for him.
“Say this much for Tyler O’Neill: He had a strong walk year,” Miller said. “After playing a combined total of 168 games of mostly replacement-level baseball from 2022-23, O’Neill suddenly became a Kyle Schwarber-ish three true outcomes machine, either homering (31), walking (53) or striking out (159) in 51.4 percent of his plate appearances…
“He does play more often than Kris Bryant, Mike Trout, or Anthony Rendon, but you do kind of have to assume he’s going to miss chunks of time throughout his contract. That will likely keep him from getting paid like he arguably should be for slugging almost as well over the past four seasons (.483) as Manny Machado (.489) and better than Giancarlo Stanton (.472). Three years at around $50M total could be a steal.”
If he actually is available for $50 million, then the Red Sox certainly should consider a reunion. A deal makes almost too much sense at that point. It would give the Red Sox the financial flexibility to afford to add much more to the organization as well.
