Both Tyler O’Neill and Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had discussed the possibility of O’Neill returning to Boston on a new contract at the end of last season. However, O’Neill has now officially signed a three-year, $49.5MM deal with the Orioles, as reported by WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. The Red Sox were not aggressive in their attempts to re-sign O’Neill, with their focus shifting to pursuing Juan Soto, according to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. Since they are still waiting on Soto to make a decision, the Red Sox did not make any offers to O’Neill.
The O’Neill signing also likely means that Randal Grichuk will not be landing in Baltimore, as the Orioles had shown interest in his services, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Grichuk is a right-handed hitter who excels against left-handed pitching and could have been a platoon player for the Orioles. The Blue Jays had also shown interest in Clay Holmes before he signed with the Mets, as reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon. Holmes is expected to play a key role in the Mets’ bullpen with his new three-year, $38MM contract.
In other news, the St. Petersburg city council approved a deal to issue bonds to help cover some of the city’s contribution to the Rays’ new ballpark project by a 4-3 vote on Thursday. The next step is a Pinellas County Commission meeting on December 17 to approve the bonds and $312.5MM in tourism taxes towards the project. The delay in these votes has led the Rays to consider leaving the Tampa/St. Pete area, as they are concerned about the feasibility of the ballpark opening by 2029. The original plan was to have the new ballpark ready by Opening Day 2028, but Hurricane Milton’s damage to the Tropicana Field roof has forced the Rays to play at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for the 2025 season and has left their location uncertain for the 2026-27 seasons.
