Tyler O’Neill and Orioles agree to three-year contract (Source)

BALTIMORE — For the first time since Mike Elias became general manager in November 2018, the Orioles are signing a multi-year free agent contract, filling one of the biggest holes on their roster.

Baltimore agreed to terms with outfielder Tyler O’Neill on a three-year, $49.5 million contract, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Saturday evening. The club has not confirmed the deal, which includes an exit possibility after 2025 and is still pending.

O’Neill, 29, is a right-handed power hitter who hit 31 home runs and posted an .847 OPS in 113 games in 2024, his only year with the Red Sox. He previously played 18-23 for the Cardinals, with his best season being 21 (34 home runs and a .912 OPS in 138 games).

Entering the offseason, the O’s outfield mix consisted entirely of left-handed hitters, with Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins and Heston Kjerstad being the projected left-to-right starters. Now they have O’Neill who will help offset the potential loss of Anthony Santander. The switch-hitting Santander hit a career-high 44 home runs last year and is now a free agent.

Injuries have been a theme throughout O’Neill’s seven-year big league career, appearing in fewer than 100 games in five of those seasons (although the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In 1924 he was on the injured list several times due to concussion, inflammation of the right knee and infection of the left leg.

When healthy, O’Neill has impressed on both sides of the ball. He is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner (2020 and 2021) and finished eighth in National League MVP Award voting during his breakout 2021 season.

O’Neill’s year in Boston proved to be one of his best. He finished with 2.6 bWAR and was in the 98th percentile in barrel rate (17.3 percent), according to Statcast.

Although O’Neill was able to compete against lefties last season, hitting 1.179 with an OPS of 16 of his 31 home runs in 156 plate appearances, he held his own against righties (a .693 OPS in 317 plate appearances). Therefore, he could play an almost everyday role in Baltimore, where he could fill the corner outfield position as well as be thrown into the mix as a designated hitter.

Cowser will likely get a lot of starts on the left side, which would put O’Neill on the right side. But Cowser can also replace Mullins in the middle, so O’Neill could also play on the left. There is flexibility, and the O’s may not be done adding outfielders to their big league roster either.

The new left field wall will be a happy medium between the ballpark’s original renovations (which opened in 1992) and those that have earned the cavernous wall the nickname “Walltimore” over the last three seasons.

O’Neill’s right-handed bat should play better now in Camden, where he has never had a hit in 16 plate appearances over the last two seasons. He is 3-of-16 (.188) at the ballpark.

As the O’Neill agreement shows, the O’s are in a much better position to make significant spending this offseason because of their new ownership group that took over in March. Controller David Rubenstein, a private equity billionaire and Baltimore native, has publicly stated that he trusts the decisions made by Elias and the baseball department.

Meanwhile, Elias expressed confidence that Rubenstein’s group will provide the necessary resources to complete the steps he has planned, with more potentially planned.

The Orioles have other items on their offseason to-do list (an ace, bullpen depth, possibly another right-handed-hitting outfielder), but they’re off to a good start with the impending additions of O’Neill and Sánchez.