The Orioles today announced that they have agreed to terms with outfielder TYLER O’NEILL on a three-year major league contract for the 2025-27 seasons with a player opt-out following 2025, and catcher GARY SÁNCHEZ on a one-year major league contract for the 2025 season.
O’Neill, 29, slashed .241/.336/.511 (99-for-411) with 18 doubles, 31 home runs, 74 runs scored, 61 RBI, 53 walks (5 IBB), seven hit-by-pitches, and four stolen bases in 113 games with the Boston Red Sox in 2024. His 31 homers led the team, the first Red Sox outfielder to lead the club in home runs since 2019. He was selected as the 2024 Players Choice Awards American League Comeback Player of the Year, an honor voted on by fellow players. O’Neill led all qualified MLB players with a .750 slugging percentage and finished second with a 1.179 OPS against left-handed pitching last season, while his 16 homers against southpaws were tied for the second most in the majors in 2024. In his first game with the Red Sox on March 28 at Seattle, he went deep in his fifth straight Opening Day to become the first player in MLB history to do so. O’Neill tallied two walk-off hits last year, including a three-run home run with Boston trailing 3-2 in the 10th inning on September 11 against Baltimore.
The two-time Gold Glover with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2020 and 2021 was acquired by the Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos on December 8, 2023. In seven big league seasons between the two clubs, O’Neill has batted .246/.322/.469 (462-for-1875) with 85 doubles, three triples, 109 home runs, 313 runs scored, 278 RBI, 189 walks (5 IBB), 29 hit-by-pitches, and 44 stolen bases in 590 games. Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, his 109 homers are 10th all-time by a Canadian-born player and the second most among active players behind Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (160). O’Neill was originally selected by the Seattle Mariners in the third round (No. 85 overall) of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Garibaldi (BC, CAN) Secondary School before being acquired by St. Louis for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales on July 21, 2017.
Sánchez, 32, slashed .220/.307/.392 (54-for-245) with seven doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 30 runs scored, 37 RBI, 27 walks, and five hit-by-pitches in 89 games with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024. He also appeared in two Postseason games in the National League Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, going 2-for-7 with a double. Seven of his 11 homers came against left-handed pitchers as he slugged .423 against southpaws compared to .369 vs. righties last season.
Over 10 MLB seasons, Sánchez has batted .224/.309/.463 (636-for-2836) with 118 doubles, three triples, 184 home runs, 404 runs scored, 485 RBI, 308 walks (9 IBB), 49 hit-by-pitches, and six stolen bases in 830 career games with the Brewers, Mets, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, and New York Yankees. The two-time All-Star has hit 151 homers as a catcher since 2016, trailing only Kansas City’s Salvador Perez (152) for the most in the majors during that time. He finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2016 behind Detroit’s Michael Fulmer and earned his only career Silver Slugger Award in 2017.
Sánchez was originally signed by New York-AL as an international free agent on July 2, 2009, out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was acquired by Minnesota along with infielder Gio Urshela in exchange for infielder Josh Donaldson, infielder/outfielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and catcher Ben Rortvedt on March 13, 2022. Sánchez signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants on April 1, 2023, and was released on May 2, before appearing in an MLB game. New York-NL signed him to a minor league contract on May 9, and selected his contract on May 19. He was designated for assignment on May 25, and claimed off waivers by San Diego on May 29. Sánchez signed a major league contract with Milwaukee on February 21, 2024, with a mutual option for 2025, which the Brewers declined. He made his MLB debut against the Orioles on October 3 (G1), 2015 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 39 players.