At the end of last season, both and Red Sox chief baseball officer in the po sibility of ONeill returning to Boston on a new contract. That po sibility is now officially off the board after ONeill signed with the Orioles yesterday, and as per WEEI.coms Rob Bradford ( ), the Sox were not very aggre sive in their attempts to re-sign the outfielder. Bostons pursuit of simply took precedence, writes, as since the Red Sox are one of the teams still waiting on Soto to make his decision, the Sox didnt make ONeill any offers. More from around the AL East Speaking of the ONeill signing, the move likely closes the door on the po sibility of landing in Baltimore, as MLB.coms Mark Feinsand ( ) writes that the Orioles Ken Holtzman Jersey had interest in Grichuks services. Grichuk wouldve been more of a clear-cut platoon player, but like ONeill, is a right-handed bat who crushes left-handed pitching. This skillset was on full display with the Diamondbacks in 2024, when Grichuk hit .319/.386/.528 in 184 PA against southpaws. Grichuk a $6MM mutual option for 2025 to enter free agency, and he figures to score a solid contract based on his lefty-mashing offense and his ability to at least pa sably play all three outfield positions. The Blue Jays had interest in before Holmes signed with the Mets earlier this week, according to . Toronto was looking at Holmes just as a reliever, which isnt surprising given how fixing the bullpen is one of the Jays top offseason priorities. Holmes hasnt started a game since his rookie year in 2018, but hell move back into a starting role with the Mets on his new contract. By a 4-3 vote on Thursday, the St. Petersburg city council approved a deal to i sue bonds to help cover some of the citys contribution to the Rays new ballpark project. Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times ( ) looks at both Thursdays decision and the next step in the proce s, which is a Pinellas County Commi sion meeting on December 17 to approve the bonds and $312.5MM in tourism taxes towards the ballpark project. It isnt yet clear how the county commi sion will vote, and even in the event of a yes vote, the delays in these votes have already led the Rays to threaten to abandon the deal altogether and leave the Tampa/St. Pete area, as the team says it isnt feasible for the ballparks opening to be put off until 2029. The initial plan saw the new ballpark set to be ready by Opening Day 2028, but Hurricane Miltons destruction of the Tropicana Field roof has left the Rays in a temporary home of George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa in 2025, and uncertain about their location for at least the 2026-27 seasons. George Hendrick Jersey