BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — There was a world where Tyler O’Neill entered this offseason with a difficult decision to make about his future. This isn’t it.
O’Neill, 30, endured a disaster of a year with the Orioles in 2025 after signing a three-year, $49.5 million deal with the team in free agency last winter. Injuries limited the veteran outfielder to 54 games, and he set career lows — abbreviated 2020 season aside — in batting average (.199) and on-base percentage (.292) while slugging just nine home runs with 26 RBIs.
His contract included a player option that would allow him to forgo the remaining two years and $33 million and reenter free agency this offseason, but O’Neill is all but assured to return to Baltimore in 2026 as he aims to rebuild his value and find a way to stay on the field.
“Unfortunately, it’s been an unhealthy year for me, so that’s all going to be taken into account,” O’Neill said in late September. “I believe in this group and I really like the guys here. I think we got a good shot for competing deep into the postseason next year. So, it’s a really good feeling to want to show up and be around these guys and play baseball in an environment like Camden Yards is really fun to do on a day-to-day basis.”
Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun.