The Boston Red Sox have been addressing their needs this offseason, but to this point, they haven’t balanced out their lefty-heavy lineup.
In fact, they’ve lost outfielder/designated hitter Tyler O’Neill, who was one of the team’s most consistent right-handed bats in 2024, to the Baltimore Orioles in free agency.
The 29-year-old spent just one season in Boston, but he made an impact, hitting .241 with an .847 OPS, 31 home runs, 61 RBIs and four stolen bases. And, although he’ll spend 2025 with their division rival, he was left a bit perplexed by the Red Sox this offseason.
“I was surprised in the lack of interest,” O’Neill told said on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “There was a little bit of interest early on at the GM meetings in November. Obviously, every organization is going to be talking to Scott (Boras) with the player personnel he had coming into the market this year. And Bres (Craig Breslow) and company made it known they were interested in me, but where I fell in the pecking order I have no idea. I don’t know if I was second or fourth or fifth or whatever they looked like. So it never got to numbers. It never got to anything serious. It is what it is.”
Bringing O’Neill back this offseason wouldn’t have been a perfect fit, with the team already rostering too many outfielders and a potentially healthy Masataka Yoshida as their designated hitter, but they certainly could use his power.
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