Red Sox acquire outfielder Tyler O’Neill in exchange for 2 pitchers

Red Sox

O’Neill’s contract expires after the 2024 season.

O’Neill missed 90 games in 2023 due in part to a nagging knee injury. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

The Red Sox acquired an outfielder via trade just three days after sending right fielder Alex Verdugo to the Yankees.

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Boston announced Friday night that it traded for the Cardinals’ Tyler O’Neill in exchange for right-handed pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos.

O’Neill, 28, played both center and left field for St. Louis in 2023 and hasn’t seen right field in the majors since his sophomore season in 2019.

The righty bat slashed .231/.312/.403 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 72 games this past year.

O’Neill dealt with a knee injury in the second half of 2023 that kept him off the field for some time.

The outfielder’s best season came in 2021 when he won a Gold Glove and finished eighth in MVP voting. He slashed .286/.352/.560 that year with 34 home runs and 80 RBIs in 138 games, the most he has played in one season in his career. 

He also won a Gold Glove during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

Since then, O’Neill hasn’t seemed to be able to replicate the success he saw early in his career. 

St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol and O’Neill were in the news early on this past season due to an apparent lack of hustle by the player on April 4. O’Neill seemed to jog home on a play at the plate against the Braves in just St. Louis’ fifth game of the year.

Marmol wasn’t too happy about the lack of effort and called O’Neill out publicly after the game, leading to the player’s benching the following day.

“We’ve got a lot of guys playing really hard and that’s not our style of play as far as the effort rounding the bag there,” Marmol said. “It’s unacceptable.”

With just one year left on his contract, it makes sense that the Cardinals moved on from him and got a couple of players in return. Perhaps a change of scenery for O’Neill can help him get back on track on the diamond. 

Where exactly he fits in the Red Sox’ outfield as the roster is currently constituted remains to be seen. Boston has five other outfielders who could be starters in Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder, and Masataka Yoshida.

Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently told reporters at the Winter Meetings that Abreu could be the team’s everyday right fielder next year in place of Verdugo. Breslow also said Rafaela’s ability to play both center field and the infield is valued, as is Duran’s utility at multiple outfield positions.

Yoshida could certainly become the Red Sox’ designated hitter as he was in Japan, although he did play more than serviceably in the outfield and adapted well to Fenway Park’s Green Monster in left field this past season.

At this point, regardless of what three players will get the nod in the outfield come opening day, it seems like the team is set in that area of the depth chart with their latest move.