On Saturday night the Baltimore Orioles signed OF Tyler O’Neill, and C Gary Sanchez.
The O’Neill deal was 3 years, $49.5M.
He received an opt-out clause after the 2025 season.
Sanchez signed for 1 year, $8.5M.
With these signings, the shape of the 2025 positional roster is a bit clearer here in the waning days of 2024.
Let’s look at each deal individually.
O’Neill
DOB 6/22/95
The 29 year old Right-Hand hitting Corner OF has been in the Majors since 2018.
He had solely been with St. Louis from ’18 through the ’23 season.
’24 was spent in Boston, and O’Neill slashed .241 / .336 / .511 (.847 OPS) over 411 ab’s.
He had 31 homers, and 18 doubles.
He also walked 53 times.
If you look at his Baseball Savant page, you’ll see a lot of red.
He barrels balls, and hits them hard.
He also walks at a high level.
Defensively, the 2x former Gold Glover had a down year according to the Outs Above Average (OAA) metric.
In 498 innings in LF, his OAA was -3.
In 301.2 innings in RF, his OAA was -1.
His arm is decidedly above average which definitely helps.
My assumption is that he was signed to essentially replace Anthony Santander as the primary RF.
RF at OPACY is not tremendously difficult.
With his arm strength, and with Cedric Mullins in CF; I’ll expect O’Neill to be average ish in RF.
That’s fine.
As is, Colton Cowser will continue to be the everyday LF.
If Mullins were to struggle, he’d likely be replaced in CF by Cowser.
In that scenario, maybe O’Neill would additionally find time in LF.
Even with the OPACY LF dimensions becoming more hitter friendly for ’25, a situation where O’Neill gets any regular time in LF is probably not ideal.
As I’ve mentioned, there are things to like about O’Neill (has power, plate discipline, strong arm).
He’s also said to play with a chip on his shoulder. He’s closing in on 2,000 career ML ab’s, so you have some comfort in his track-record.
He can help a roster.
What concerns me is that his career high in games played was 141 in 2021.
The next highest is the 113 games he played for Boston here in ’24.
Every other season of his career, he’s been under 100 games.
The best ability is availability.
Santander averaged 153 games played the last 3 years.
Will O’Neill be able to post-up for 150+ games in ’25?
Guys don’t typically become healthier in their 30s than they were in their 20s.
Santander is also a switch hitter.
In ’24, Santander had a .793 OPS vs. LHP, and a .822 OPS vs. RHP.
O’Neill absolutely destroyed LHP in ’24, as he had a 1.179 OPS vs. Southpaws in 128 ab’s.
Against RHP, O’Neill had a .693 OPS. Not horrifically bad, but below average.
I think we can expect that spending will be increasing quicker under Orioles Owner David Rubenstein vs. the O’s former Owner John Angelos; but are the O’s really going to spend $16.5M annually on a platoon bat?
I don’t see it.
Injuries might force O’Neill off the field, but he’s going to regularly be in the lineup when available.
On our message board, it’s been suggested that the O’s should give O’Neill time at DH to try and keep him fresh.
I understand the idea, but don’t see it as likely that he finds any regular time at DH.
Just doesn’t seem overly practical when Adley Rutschman will get 40 games at DH, and the roster currently still has Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Coby Mayo, and Heston Kjerstad.
I went into the off-season believing the O’s would trade Mountcastle, and have Mayo take over 1st base.
I also thought the O’s were likely to go with Kjerstad in RF.
Presumably the O’s decided that they have enough young guys in the everyday lineup, and that they wanted another vet bat they could count on.
That’s reasonable.
I think we can also surmise that the prospective cost of reaching a deal with Santander was likely more money and years than they wanted.
While appreciating what O’Neill brings to the table, I think I would have preferred going with Kjerstad, and using O’Neill’s $16.5M AAV elsewhere.
My sense is that over an equal number of ab’s, that Kjerstad would provide similar production.
Some would argue that O’Neill and Kjerstad could platoon, but it’s worth noting that in the extremely small sample of Kjerstad’s ’24 season, he was also better vs. LHP.
And again, I just don’t see the O’s paying O’Neill $16.5M to platoon.
The more likely scenario is that the O’s will now attempt to move Kjerstad in a trade for a starting pitcher.
Kjerstad by himself is not going to land the White Sox’s Garrett Crochet, but he can be a piece.
Or maybe the O’s will move both Mountcastle and O’Hearn for whatever; and Mayo and Kjerstad will take over 1st and DH.
Who knows?
We will see.
I’m down on the O’Neill signing.
Again, there are positives he brings to the table.
When he’s available, he’ll contribute.
But I’m not jumping for joy here either, as I would have rather used his salary elsewhere, and I think the O’s would get similar production from Kjerstad.
Sanchez
DOB: 12/2/92
Sanchez is a little bit younger than the O’s 2024 backup catcher James McCann (DOB 6/13/90).
Sanchez had 72 games with the Padres in 2023, and 89 with the Brewers in 2024.
In ’24, Sanchez had a .699 OPS overall (.717 OPS vs. LHP, .686 OPS vs. RHP).
McCann played in 69 games in ’23, and 65 games in ’24.
In ’24, McCann had a .667 OPS overall (.638 OPS vs. LHP, .683 OPS vs. RHP).
So, what did the O’s prioritize here?
Did they like the idea of getting a little younger?
Did they like that Sanchez might have a few more games in him per year?
Did they value the split difference between Sanchez and McCann vs. LHP?
I’d guess each were contributing factors in the signing.
Looks like the fielding metrics favor Sanchez in-comparison to McCann; but neither grade well.
I don’t know that the positives in Sanchez’s direction are enough for me to want a change in the familiarity you had with McCann, but I’m mostly ambivalent.
What I’ve gathered previously is that McCann has been well liked in the clubhouse, but I wouldn’t pretend that any intangibles he has are not replaceable.
I also wouldn’t presume to know how Sanchez is regarded.
Maybe character is generally a wash like everything else.
Ultimately the O’s identified who they wanted, and went to get him.
I like that.
Two moves of some significance from the Orioles prior to the calendar turning to ’25.
That’s something.
Next-up is seeing what they do to obtain a front-end starter.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.