The Boston Red Sox have a few impending free agents on their payroll, but none have posted a season quite like Tyler O'Neill's.
The former St. Louis Cardinal was traded to the Red Sox in the final year of his contract. He was frequently injured during his time with the Redbirds and only played more than 96 games once over his six years there.
O'Neill has posted a rebound season with the Red Sox. He's maintained his high-level defense but reintroduced his powerful bat into the equation — the veteran outfielder is slashing .258/.350/.531 with a .881 OPS over 97 games with Boston.
Despite O'Neill's resurgence, Bleacher Report predicts he'll play in another uniform next season. MLB columnist Joel Reuter believes the Red Sox will pass on an extension for the outfielder.
Bleacher Report predicts Tyler O'Neill will not be a Red Sox next season
Reuter suggests the impending uptick in O'Neill's price will deter Boston from pursuing another deal. He suggests O'Neill may be able to secure a deal similar to the five-year, $75 million contract that Andrew Benintendi received from the White Sox in Jan. 2023.
Besides O'Neill, the Red Sox carry an excess of outfield talent with even more outfielders expected to reach the big leagues next year. O'Neill has battled Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder for playing time in the outfield this year, and Boston expects top prospect Roman Anthony to be major-league ready next season.
A frozen rope blast from Tyler O'Neill! pic.twitter.com/xz6n4CKO0p
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 31, 2024
The Sox also have Masataka Yoshida who can play the outfield. His defensive stats don't match up with O'Neill's — or, frankly, any of Boston's other outfielders — but Yoshida is on an expensive contract and it isn't financially wise for the Red Sox to neglect half his game.
The Red Sox will also have a traffic jam in the middle infield next season. Trevor Story, Rafaela, Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Romy González, Nick Sogard, and maybe Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, will all be in the mix for middle infield positions next year. Bringing O'Neill back would create more lineup questions rather than resolving any.
O'Neill has been a solid player for the Red Sox, and as one of their only right-handed hitters, he's been a savior against lefty pitching. Unfortunately, the outfielder doesn't align with Boston's upcoming outfield plans.