Tyler O’Neill on learning he was traded to the Red Sox: ‘Very exciting moment for me’
When the Red Sox traded outfielder Alex Verdugo to the Yankees, it opened a spot on the roster for Boston to replace his left-handed bat for a right-handed slugger.
The Red Sox acquired O’Neill from the Cardinals in December for pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos.
“At the end of my tenure with St. Louis, I was kind of getting to the point where I was going to get moved out of there,” he said to reporters at Red Sox Winter Weekend. “So it’s more of a question of where. I got the call saying I was coming to Boston. So that was a very exciting moment for me. Obviously I enjoyed my six years in St. Louis. I’ll cherish those for the rest of my life. But again, fresh opportunities are good and I’m really looking forward to this one.”
The versatile outfielder has dealt with injuries the last couple of seasons but feels healthy and ready for spring training in February.
O’Neill has started 324 games in left field, 36 games in center and 12 games in right field. The Canadian outfielder is willing and open to playing wherever manager Alex Cora needs him next season.
“I’m willing and able to play wherever Alex wants me on a day to day basis,” he said. “And I know I have the range to play in right field if I have to. Wherever they want me, I’m willing and able.”
Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow haven’t told O’Neill where he will play in the outfield next season.
“It doesn’t really matter too much to me,” O’Neill said. “Obviously as a player I like to get in my rhythm and I like consistency and such. But again, I don’t know what it’s going to look like for positioning. We’ll see.”
O’Neill has won back-to-back Gold Gloves as a member of the Cardinals in 2020 and 2021. He had a career-best seven outfield assists in 2021, but also set a career-high of nine errors that season.
“When I came to Fenway, I was playing left field, and that was neat because, obviously, the Green Monster. You don’t see that anywhere else in baseball,” said O’Neill in a zoom call with the Red Sox media following his trade. “So it was an enjoyable experience for me to play there. But it doesn’t matter to me if it’s right, center field, or left field. Whatever is going to help the team.
"I know I can track the ball down and feel like I have pretty good arm strength. I could play right if they want me out there, and I could play center on specific days guys need off. I just want to be on the field contributing.”
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