The Boston Red Sox certainly won their offseason trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Boston acquired outfielder Tyler O'Neill from St. Louis, and he has been one of the team's most important offensive players this season. The 29-year-old spent the first six seasons of his career with St. Louis and showed plenty of potential, but injuries negatively impacted his time there.
O'Neill finished eighth in the National League Most Valuable Player voting in 2021 and won two Gold Glove Awards, but played over 100 games just once. This year with Boston, he has been a revelation. He has been relatively healthy and has played in 105 games already. Over that stretch, he has launched 31 home runs, driven in 61 RBIs, clubbed 18 doubles, and has played some stellar defense in the outfield.
When the Red Sox acquired O'Neill, they knew he would enter free agency this upcoming winter. They knew it could be a short-term partnership, but he is doing everything possible to make the Red Sox front office consider keeping him around longer.
Boston has a surplus of capable outfielders on the current roster as well as in the minor leagues, but 30-plus home run pop with Gold Glove-caliber defense doesn't come around very often. If the Red Sox were to keep him, it would be expensive, though. Spotrac currently is projecting him to receive a contract in the neighborhood of five seasons and $90 million.
The Red Sox certainly can afford that, but they likely will have to make another move if they want to keep O'Neill around for the long term. Boston's outfield options consist of Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, O'Neill, and Roman Anthony in the minors. Boston also has Masataka Yoshida, but it hasn't played him in the outfield this year.
A long-term deal for O'Neill likely would mean that the Red Sox would trade someone else. They will have some tough decisions to make this winter for sure.
