MLB Rumors: Why Red Sox Didn’t Make Offer To Tyler O’Neill

The Red Sox like Tyler O’Neill. They went out of their way to trade for him last offseason and reportedly had a level of interest in a reunion this winter.

Boston, however, had bigger fish to fry when O’Neill went through his free agency process, which concluded with a reported agreement with the Baltimore Orioles.

“While the Sox discussed a reunion with O’Neill or a pursuit of Willy Adames if they lost out on free agent Juan Soto, according to multiple major league sources they never made an offer to O’Neill while waiting for Soto to make his decision — a choice that will shape the rest of the team’s offseason,” The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier wrote in a column published Saturday night.

Soto, of course, is the kind of marquee free agent who commands the lion’s share of a club’s attention. And while the Red Sox have other offseason matters to address outside of the Soto sweepstakes, O’Neill understandably still wasn’t high on Boston’s priority list. The Red Sox really need to improve their starting pitching, and they reportedly are in the mix for both Max Fried and Corbin Burnes.

Under different circumstances, the Red Sox might have had more bandwidth to dedicate to O’Neill. But after a string of lousy seasons, Boston seems hellbent on putting together an active offseason featuring additions of top-tier players.