The Orioles have reached an agreement with the outfielder Tyler O’Neill According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, he has agreed to a three-year, $49.5 million contract. Heyman adds that the Boras Corporation client’s contract includes an exit option after the 2025 season.

O’Neill, 30 in June, began his walk year having just been traded from the Cardinals to the Red Sox. While he earned the down-bottom MVP vote with a fantastic 2021 season in St. Louis, O’Neill was the odd man out on the club due to back-to-back down seasons combined with a glut of viable outfield options. However, he made the best of the situation and secured a starting role in Boston that year.

While O’Neill struggled with his health between two stints on the injured list last year, he performed at a high level when he was healthy enough to take the field. In 113 games for Boston, he hit a strong .241/.336/.511 with a 131 wRC+. That performance came with an unsightly 33.6% strikeout rate, although O’Neill somewhat made up for it with 31 home runs and an 11.2% walk rate.

The outfielder is certainly not without his warts. His high strikeout rate is at least somewhat concerning, even when factoring in his power and high walk rate, and he also saw massive platoon splits last year. While he put up an incredible 215 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers last year, same-handed pitchers held him below average overall offensively (91 wRC+), as he hit just .208/.290/.403 against them. O’Neill’s long injury history is also something of a warning sign that could affect his value in the coming years. Despite these concerns, however, it’s easy to see that O’Neill is fit in Baltimore. The Orioles have a mix of depth players who can help fill in for O’Neill when he’s injured and perhaps even give him occasional days off against tough right-handed opponents.

Meanwhile, O’Neill’s phenomenal numbers against left-handed pitchers could provide a huge boost to the Orioles’ heavily left-handed lineup. The Orioles outfielders hit a decent .236/.302/.419 (106 wRC+) against lefties last year, but much of that production came from them Anthony Santander132 WRC+ vs southpaw. Santander is now a free agent and leaves the club with the left-hander Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins, Heston Kjerstadand maybe Ryan O’Hearn in their planned outfield mix. All four of those players are left-handed, and Cowser’s 89 wRC+ against lefties last year was the highest market value of the quartet. By adding O’Neill, the Orioles should be able to help balance an outfield that is expected to perform well below average against southpaws in 2025.

What’s notable is that they also did this for a far cheaper price than they probably would have had they simply re-signed Santander. While MLBTR’s No. 9 free agent on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list was projected with a four-year, $80 million contract after hitting 44 home runs for the Orioles this year, O’Neill ranked at 19. Dollars further down the table is a projected three-year, $42 million contract. It’s a deal that O’Neill was able to exceed by a small amount in terms of total guarantees, and he managed to add value to his contract by offering himself the opportunity to sign up next winter from the final two years of the deal to get out. If O’Neill manages to stay healthy and repeat his strong performance from his time in Boston in 2025, it’s not hard to imagine him entering free agency again next winter for a much more lucrative deal to obtain.

In the meantime, O’Neill will provide a veteran presence in a young and exciting Orioles lineup. Baltimore is known to be in the market to back up a catcher Adleyrutschman at the position and press the waiver wire additionally René Pinto into a deeper role, but the signing of O’Neill probably represents the heavy lifting in terms of the club’s attacking improvements this winter. However, that doesn’t mean they are done for the winter; The club has long been tied to the market for starting pitching as it looks to either reunite with Ace Hurler or replace him Corbin Burnes at the top of their rotation. That being said, the club expects to make bullpen additions that can help replace hurlers Danny Coulombe And Jacob Webbalthough the return is closer Felix Bautista Tommy John surgery this spring is already expected to provide a major boost to the relief corps.

The club believes it still has resources to make these additions even after the addition of O’Neill. RosterResource projects the Orioles to reach $114 million in 2025 payroll with O’Neill. Not only would that be a step above last year’s payroll, but it would also be the highest payroll the club has submitted since the 2018 season. Of course, the club’s new ownership group, led by David Rubenstein, appeared to be far more open to spending in free agency than the Angelos family was in the final years of their ownership, and the club has been open about increased payroll flexibility this winter. The club will likely be further encouraged by how clean their long-term books are: O’Neill’s contract is their first guaranteed amount of money for the 2026 season, while all other salary commitments come in the form of arbitration-level or pre-arbitration level players.