Fastball

Tyler O'Neill Says He Was "Surprised" at Lack of Interest From Boston Red Sox in Free Agency

O'Neill, who signed a three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, says he was surprised that the Red Sox didn't really work to bring him back this offseason.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox designated hitter Tyler O'Neill (17) hits a home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning at Fenway Park on Sept 9.
Boston Red Sox designated hitter Tyler O'Neill (17) hits a home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning at Fenway Park on Sept 9. / David Butler II-Imagn Images
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Earlier this offseason, outfielder Tyler O'Neill signed a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles.

Speaking this week on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast with Rob Bradford, O'Neill says he was surprised at the lack of interest from the Boston Red Sox in retaining him. He spent the 2024 season in Boston and put up solid numbers, hitting 31 home runs in just 113 games.

You can hear his full comments below, but O'Neill says the Sox showed some initial interest at the general manager's meetings in a return, but it never really went beyond that.

There's a few things to consider here:

1) The Red Sox made it clear that they were most interested in bringing in Juan Soto this offseason. Like multiple teams, the Red Sox entire offseason was built around Soto. O'Neill signed before Soto, so the Red Sox never really had a chance to pivot back to him.

2) The Red Sox don't technically need any outfielders at all. With Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Rob Refsnyder and top prospect Roman Anthony, the Red Sox have outfielders. Soto feels like an outlier for them, and if they weren't going to get him, they may not have gone after O'Neill anyways just because of the numbers.

3) The Orioles did need an outfielder. In the wake of (seemingly) letting Anthony Santander go this offseason, and not being in on Soto, the Orioles got aggressive in locking up O'Neill to the deal worth nearly $50 million.

O'Neill had just 61 RBI last season, putting together one of the weirder years in recent memory, as more than half of his RBI total came from his own home runs.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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