Red Sox Slugger Predicted To Leave For Projected $48M Royals Deal

The Red Sox have to make a decision about the star slugger

Apr 16, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Logo on stadium seats prior to the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images / William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox clearly need to add a little more pop to the middle of the lineup for the 2025 season.

Boston's offense was actually very good in the first half of the season despite a plethora of injuries to players including Trevor Story, Triston Casas, and Masataka Yoshida among others. Boston continued to find a way to score runs but ran out of gas down the stretch.

One of the biggest reasons why Boston was able to stay above water for as long as it did offensively was the performance of Tyler O'Neill. When he was healthy, he looked like a superstar. He appeared in 113 games and crushed 31 home runs and drove in 61 runs.

Now, O'Neill is a free agent and is projected to get a $48 million deal over three seasons by Spotrac. It would make a lot of sense for Boston to bring him back to town.

Boston is attempting to land some superstars right now like Juan Soto, but it makes a lot of sense to also sign O'Neill. While this is the case, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter predicted that O'Neill will end up signing with the Kansas City Royals.

"The Royals would benefit greatly from adding another true power threat to join Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, and Vinnie Pasquantino in shouldering the offensive load, and Tyler O'Neill is coming off a 31-homer season in only 473 plate appearances," Reuter said. "Outside of the eight incumbents listed above, the Royals only have seven other position players on the current 40-man roster.

"Expect at least a few more outside additions following their surprise playoff run, even if it's just to bolster the bench."

Kansas City is on the rise and would be much better with O'Neill. It still would be good for Boston if it could land him instead, though.

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