The Red Sox Never Seriously Pursued Tyler O’Neill

We spent a lot of time over the past few months wondering whether the Red Sox would bring back Tyler O’Neill after his excellent, injury-shortened 2024 season. O’Neill hit 31 home runs and put up 2.5 WAR in just 113 games, running a 131 wRC+. However, he also struck out a third of the time, and the injury concerns were nothing new. This was just the second time he’d reached 100 games in seven seasons, although this season’s injuries were much more freakish in nature – a concussion and a leg infection – are very different from, say, a recurring hamstring strain. It’s always hard to give up one of the very best hitters on the team, but the Red Sox also had money to spend and Roman Anthony in Worcester. So we wondered. How hard would the Red Sox try to retain O’Neill in free agency? Would they even try?

O’Neill’s three-year deal with the Orioles was reported on December 6, and yesterday, we got the answer to the question: Nope. O’Neill joined Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast for a candid discussion of the last season and his offseason. O'Neill was engaging and honest, and it's well worth following the link above to listen to the entire podcast. He went out of his way to praise the Red Sox organization and emphasize how much he enjoyed playing at Fenway. “If anybody ever asks me about Boston, the first thing I say is how grateful I was to play in that ballpark and within that clubhouse culture," he said. "The gig that AC [Alex Cora] runs over there is awesome. The guys are loose and there’s really good chemistry in that locker room. Playing at Fenway Park is special. You don’t see the Green Monster anywhere else in the league or in the world, so being able to take advantage of that for a full season was a lot of fun. It was awesome. It was a great time overall. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way, but I’m really happy I landed on my feet, and Baltimore really wanted me and prioritized me. So I’m really happy with everything and how that went down.”

That was a common thread throughout the discussion: He made it clear that Baltimore really wanted to sign him, and that their interest really mattered. “Baltimore showed early interest and made it known that I was a priority for them,” said O'Neill. ‘And that’s a really good feeling for a first-time free agent like me.” However, his tone changed when discussing how much fun it was to hit at Fenway. “There’s definitely a few balls that I hit that might have been fly outs on the track at other parks, but the Green Monster took it and that’s awesome. It was awesome, honestly. I have nothing but good to say about Boston and my experience over there. I wish it would’ve worked out in that regard too, but there just wasn’t that push from that side, to get me. Obviously, Boston was caught up in the Soto Sweepstakes, rightfully so. They should be in there. Big market, they should be in the ballpark of spending that kind of money on those types of guys that are generational players. And I think they should be in that conversation, but when I’m getting prioritized interest on the other side with a really good opportunity, there’s nothing for me to wait around on.”

At that point, Bradford felt comfortable asking directly whether O’Neill was surprised that the Red Sox didn’t pursue him more aggressively. The answer was fair but unequivocal. "I was surprised at the lack of interest, yeah." said O'Neill. "There was a little bit of interest early on at the GM meetings in November. Obviously, every organization’s going to be talking to Scott [Boras], with the player personnel that he had coming into the market this year. And obviously, Bres [Craig Breslow] and company made it known that 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, right? So it never got to numbers, it never got to anything serious. It is what it is.”

I should make it clear that O'Neill never came close to criticizing the organization. He went out of his way to praise the Red Sox, but he also gave an unusually descriptive look at what free agency is like for a young player. As for the content, your mileage on this news may vary. Maybe you wanted O'Neill back, or maybe you were afraid of the risk of injury and underperformance. Most likely it was a mix of both. But however you felt, it seems that the Red Sox had their minds made up from the start.