Red Sox $45 million slugger predicted to sign with NL Central club

1 week ago 3

The Boston Red Sox have been very involved in free-agent negotiations this offseason with their biggest target being New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto.

However, if Boston doesn't land Soto, they should be looking to even out their lineup a bit for 2025, as it's currently heavily left-handed. One option for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could be to re-sign Tyler O'Neill, who had a career year with the club in 2024.

Interestingly, O'Neill is predicted to sign a three-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to The Athletic's Andy McCullough.

"He won’t turn 30 until next June," McCullough wrote. "He won two Gold Gloves with St. Louis. So why isn’t he expected to secure a nine-figure deal? Injuries. He’s been dogged by them the last few years. He played 113 games for Boston as he dealt with a variety of minor issues. A team like Pittsburgh, which isn’t too far away from contending in the National League Central, should be willing to risk a three-year deal on a player with O’Neill’s upside."

O'Neill hit .241 with an. 847 OPS, 31 home runs, 61 RBIs and four stolen bases for the Red Sox last year, and if they lose him, they'll have to find some way to supplement that power.

That could be signing another veteran or hoping that Mastaka Yoshida or one of the young prospects (Kyle Teel, Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer or Kristian Campbell) debuts early and lives up to expectations right away.

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