Red Sox Front Office Hints Breakout Star May Not Be Back In 2025

Will the Red Sox retain the slugger?

Apr 29, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Boston Red Sox logo and a field bag during batting practice before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are just a few weeks away from having to make some tough decisions.

Boston hired Craig Breslow to be the team's chief baseball officer this past offseason and replace Chaim Bloom. Breslow certainly has shown already that he isn't afraid to be aggressive. One move he made last offseason that has worked out is acquiring slugger Tyler O'Neill in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The two-time Gold Glove Award winner has one of the best seasons of his career and has 31 home runs and 61 RBIs through 108 games of action. This is just the second time in his seven-year big league career that he has appeared in over 100 games.

He has been everything the Red Sox could've hoped for, but he will be a free agent at the end of the season. Breslow joined WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" and discussed O'Neill, and it didn't sound like he expects to have him back in 2025.

“We obviously have Tyler (O’Neill) right now, but he’s earned the right to explore free agency, and the right-handed power that plays so well at Fenway is going to be a massive hole that we’re going to need to figure out how to fix," Breslow said.

While these comments don't rule O'Neill out by any means, they don't sound very confident that Boston will bring him back. It isn't too shocking due to the overflow of outfielders Boston has on the active roster in the minors. But if he does leave, the Red Sox have big shoes to fill.

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