12/31/2023 0 Comments Red sox baseballThe AL East is going to be a powerhouse division once again, and Boston has the highest ladder to climb to the top. So why did he do it?īecause the Red Sox need to bet on upside if they’re going to win in 2024. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow potentially made the team significantly worse for 2024. So what are the Red Sox doing here? O’Neill is a slightly better fit than Verdugo, and he didn’t cost as much in prospect capital the Sox came out on top in that regard. It’s more accurate to say that O’Neill has been a below-average hitter in four of the past five seasons. Yet his 2021 numbers are skewing his overall statline. His career wRC+ is 111, and he has averaged 3.2 FanGraphs WAR per 162 games. He has spent time on the injured list in every season of his MLB career, with the exception of the shortened 2020 campaign. In parts of six seasons, O’Neill has only qualified for the batting title once, in 2021, and even then, he only played 138 games. Louis Cardinals catches a fly ball against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on Augin St Louis, Missouri. ST LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 04: Tyler O’Neill #27 of the St. Perhaps the Red Sox are hoping they can help O’Neill rediscover his 2021 form. Verdugo has always been the more consistent and reliable player, yet he has never shown a ceiling quite like that. He also won a Gold Glove and finished eighth in voting for NL MVP. In 2021, O’Neill played in a career-high 138 games, hitting 34 home runs, stealing 15 bases, and slashing. More to point, O’Neill has splashed a kind of star potential Verdugo has never shown. A few million dollars shouldn’t mean much to the Red Sox, but if they’re smart, they’ll reinvest those savings in an extra reliever or a new bench bat. According to the arbitration estimates from MLB Trade Rumors, Verdugo is in line to make approximately $9.2 million next season, while O’Neill will earn approximately $5.5 million. Meanwhile, the Red Sox finished among the bottom five AL teams last season in the baserunning metrics from FanGraphs and Baseball Savant, so they could certainly use a pick-me-up on the bases.įinally, O’Neill will earn significantly less than Verdugo in 2024 – even though he possesses more upside. His sprint speed ranked in the 97th percentile or above every year from 2017-22, and despite various injuries, it was still in the 80th percentile in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox struggled against left-handed pitching last year, and O’Neill has better splits against southpaws. O’Neill is also right-handed, and the Red Sox could use another righty in the batting order four of their top five hitters are lefty batters, as is Verdugo.
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