Red Sox $45 Million Star Predicted To Leave Boston For Three-Year Deal With Pirates

Should the Red Sox make more of an effort to keep this slugger?

Sep 16, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates hats and gloves in the dugout against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

For all the talk about the Boston Red Sox needing more right-handed hitters, there seems to be very little talk about bringing back their top righty bat from the 2024 team.

Tyler O'Neill, who the Red Sox acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals last December, had a roller-coaster season. The highs were unbelievably high at times, but injuries and huge strikeout numbers kept O'Neill from having a truly special year.

Regardless, 30-homer bats don't grow on trees, and O'Neill will be a popular target in free agency among teams looking to add pop. If the Red Sox weren't willing to tender him the one-year, $21 million qualifying offer, it also seems unlikely they'd be willing to give him a lucrative multi-year deal.

However, there's bound to be a team that will.

Recently, Andy McCullough of The Athletic predicted that O'Neill would land with the Pittsburgh Pirates this winter. The same publication projected O'Neill for a three-year, $45 million contract earlier this month.

"O’Neill clubbed the baseball around in his lone season in Boston. He slugged .511 and hit 31 homers. He won’t turn 30 until next June. 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," McCullough said.

"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 is still just 29, and has two Gold Gloves to his name in addition to a top-10 finish in Most Valuable Player voting. But the 113 games he played this season were his most since 2021, so fairly or unfairly, he'll have to shake off the injury-prone perception once he arrives with his new team.

If the Pirates are that team, the silver lining is that the Red Sox won't see much of him in the National League. But if there's a lack of righty power in Boston while O'Neill is crushing home runs in the 412, there will be mixed emotions, to say the least.

More MLB: Red Sox Tabbed As Favorites To Land 'Excellent' $140 Million All-Star Free Agent