-
Jeff Passan, ESPN
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill and the Baltimore Orioles are in settlement on a three-year, $49.5 million contract, a supply informed ESPN, filling a void created by the free company of slugging outfielder Anthony Santander.
O’Neill, who will obtain an opt-out clause after the primary yr of the deal, parlayed a bounce-back season with the Boston Red Sox into the largest payday for an outfielder this winter. Whereas that quickly will likely be dwarfed by Juan Soto‘s signing, O’Neill, 29, provides a right-handed bat to an Orioles lineup crammed with left-handed hitters.
He did the vast majority of his injury towards left-handed pitchers this yr, hitting 16 of his 31 house runs off lefties — in fewer than half the plate appearances. With the left-field fences at Camden Yards scheduled to be moved in, O’Neill can faucet into his energy with a lineup that already contains Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins.
After spending his first six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, O’Neill was traded to Boston final winter and hit .241/.336/.511 whereas driving in 61 runs in 113 video games. It was essentially the most O’Neill had performed since his breakout 2021 season, when he completed eighth in Nationwide League MVP voting and received his second consecutive Gold Glove in left area.
Accidents have hindered O’Neill, who’s a part of a deep free agent class of nook outfielders that features Soto, Santander (who hit 44 house runs for Baltimore this yr), Teoscar Hernandez, Jurickson Profar, Joc Pederson, Max Kepler, Michael Conforto and Alex Verdugo.
None hits left-handers like O’Neill, who slashed .313/.430/.750 in 156 plate appearances this season and has a profession OPS 182 factors larger towards lefties. Baltimore takes benefit of platoon splits when attainable, getting a profession yr out of Ryan O’Hearn, a left-handed hitter who punishes right-handed pitching.
Baltimore’s winter will not finish with O’Neill.
The Orioles stay energetic in pursuing starting-pitching choices to hitch Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer of their rotation. Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes, who threw eight good innings throughout the Orioles’ wild-card collection loss to Kansas Metropolis, is a free agent anticipated to reap a contract in extra of $200 million.
