Aug 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tyler O'Neill (9) against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Insider predicts Orioles slugger's player option decision

Originally posted on Baltimore Orioles on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The Baltimore Orioles are set up to have a fascinating offseason.

With the team having a disappointing 2025 campaign and missing the postseason for the first time in three years, Baltimore's front office has several decisions it needs to make to set its roster up for success in the future.

The decision that will come with the most fanfare will be whether the Orioles decide to trade star catcher Adley Rutschman in the wake of signing Samuel Basallo to an eight-year contract extension last month. Along with that, it will be interesting to see which players the Orioles pursue in free agency, including which positions they feel like they most need to address before the 2026 season begins.

However, there's one roster personnel decision that Baltimore has no control over. It's the player option that outfielder Tyler O'Neill has in the three-year, $49.5 million contract he signed last December, which gives him the right to opt out of the final two years and $33 million of his current deal.

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

O'Neill hasn't had the 2025 campaign that he or the Orioles were hoping for. He's currently hitting .210 with a .727 OPS (after producing an .847 OPS with the Boston Red Sox in 2024) with only 8 home runs in just 143 at-bats.

That low at-bats total is the byproduct of him missing time with various injuries, including neck inflammation that caused him to miss several weeks earlier in the season, a left shoulder impingement that made him miss close to two months, and right wrist inflammation that he's currently on the 10-day IL for.

ESPN MLB Insider Asserts O'Neill Will Opt In With Orioles

This forgettable season makes it pretty obvious which decision O'Neill will come to regarding his player opt-out option.

And ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan conveyed as much during a September 4 article, where he predicted O'Neill would opt in to the final two years of his contract and wrote, "In his first year with Baltimore, O'Neill has played 43 games and put up precisely 0.0 wins above replacement. With two years and $33 million left on his deal, this is an easy decision."

Free at ESPN: A look at the winter ahead, with a new wave of Japanese players coming to MLB and the nine-figure deals that await them. Deep dives on the Kyles, Bregman, opt-out decisions and club options as labor uncertainty hangs over the market. https://t.co/QwmeXlqXIi
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 4, 2025

Perhaps this will ultimately be beneficial for both sides if O'Neill can perform like he did in 2024 for Baltimore next season. But if he continues to get hit with the injury bug, this contract will not age well for the Orioles' front office.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Orioles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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