The Mariners have acquired left-hander Marco Gonzales from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league outfielder Tyler O’Neill, as per a Mariners press release.
[Related: updated Cardinals and Mariners depth charts at Roster Resource]
[Related: MLBTR’s Cardinals news and rumors page on Facebook]
The 25-year-old Gonzales is only just making his way back from a pair of injury-plagued seasons. Gonzales missed a good chunk of 2015 due to shoulder problems and then all of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. The southpaw posted a 2.90 ERA, 3.35 K/BB rate and 7.5 K/9 over 11 starts and 68 1/3 IP at the Triple-A level this season, and Gonzales made it back to the big leagues for one start this season, a 3 1/3-inning outing on June 13.
St. Louis drafted Gonzales 19th overall in 2013 and both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus ranked him as one of the top 52 prospects in the sport prior to the 2015 season. BA ranked him as the #1 prospect in the Cardinals’ farm system that year, giving particular praise to Gonzales’ outstanding changeup. The Cardinals thought enough of Gonzales that they promoted him to the majors barely a year after drafting him, and the lefty even made the Cards’ postseason roster in 2014, not allowing a run in five of his six outings in the playoffs.
Seattle was known to be looking for young pitching, and while Gonzales doesn’t project as an immediate upgrade for the current M’s rotation, he still possesses quite a bit of upside. Beyond his potential on the mound, Gonzales also offers over six remaining years of team control; he isn’t eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 season, and won’t be a free agent until after 2023. With Drew Smyly scheduled to miss most or all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery and Hisashi Iwakuma and Yovani Gallardo both questionable to have their club options exercised for next season, Gonzales projects to be an important rotation piece for the 2018 Mariners.
In acquiring Gonzales, the M’s gave up a well-regarded young player in O’Neill, who was comfortably positioned within preseason top-1oo prospect lists from MLB.com (36th), Baseball America (38th), Baseball Prospectus (53rd). Power is O’Neill’s calling card, as he has 89 homers over 1794 minor league plate appearances, including 19 this season at the Triple-A level. O’Neill got off to something of a slow start in his first taste of Triple-A action, though he has recovered to post a .244/.328/.479 slash line through 396 PA. He has cut down on his strikeouts over the last two seasons, though he still gets more than his share of whiffs, with 108 strikeouts this season. O’Neill’s plate discipline and average corner outfield defense are also works in progress, though the 22-year-old Canadian has so much raw power and overall hitting potential that the Cardinals are surely willing to tolerate some growing pains.
O’Neill joins several other interesting young outfielders in the St. Louis farm system, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale speculates that the Cards could now look to move an outfielder from their MLB roster in the offseason. This could imply that Randal Grichuk or Stephen Piscotty could become trade chips, though the Cardinals would be selling low on either player in the wake of lackluster 2017 seasons.
Why? I feel like Dipoto is doing this on purpose
he felt the mariners needed a 25 year old soft tossing lefty prospect so bad he gave the cards a rated prospect.
Interesting…
Keep the trades coming!
I loved O’Neill, why.
Don’t know anything about him, what does he bring to the table?
Marco is a nice lefty, went to Gonzaga right? Closer to home?
O’Neill is a slugging corner outfielder that prospect gurus love. Hes top 30 (albeit on an outdated) on MLB’s list.
Gonzales is meh and injured all the time
Nice didn’t realize he was that high a prospect
Tyler O’Neil didn’t even make BA’s midseason top 100, did he?
inconsistency and injury…had no idea he had value for a 1-1 trade like this.
Agreed. From what I’ve heard and read, I got the impression that his stock was dropping.
This makes zero sense unless Cards are staging to get rid of higher upside outfield depth.
Why, they have so many pitching prospects who are better than Marco. You can’t keep all of them and power outfield prospects is something St. Louis is lacking
I think he means we already have Bader/Garcia/etc who can’t reach the majors (Grichuk). I like the trade but I hope he can get real opportunities.
He comes in as the 2nd highest position player prospect the Cards have behind only Carson Kelly who was promoted to the show today.
Great trade. I can’t believe the Cards got a top 100 MLB prospect for Marco Gonzales. Yay!
Yea I agree
Mozeliak says that since Gonzales is out of options and not really a fit on the 2018 roster (with 4 of the 5 starters set to return and Weaver likely to join them, not to mention Flaherty in the wings), now was the time to move him for something they need more, specifically a power bat.
Yep that’s what I heard…but also that a bigger trade is coming
where did you here that a bigger trade is coming cus i’d love for it to be true
*hear
“hey.. lets trade a top 50 overall prospect for a pitcher who has thrown 5 big league innings in 4 years, and at best is a #3 with injury concerns”
I dont get what the Mariners see here
o’neill wasn’t on baseball americas top 100 mid season rankings… he’s fallen off
This is all very fluid, but O’Neill’s stock has dropped precipitously in the eyes of many.. Opinions vary (as a zen-like bouncer once uttered), but BA – for example – did not have him in their most recent Top 100 list. It’s not that crazy imo.
He dropped off because he had a horrible April (.598 OPS) and mediocre May (.727). He has been crushing again since then. His June OPS was .863, and his July to date is 1.125.
That’s just stats though & most evaluators know enough to look past surface stats (& realize his age relative to his AAA competition).
I honestly have no idea what point you’re trying to make. He dropped off the lists beacause of his horrible start. Evaluators might be low on him for other reasons, but he wouldn’t have dropped that significantly if he didn’t have a horrible first month+.
And he’s 22 years old in AAA, which is 4.4 years younger than his competition. That works in his favor…
hes 22, and is still having a solid season albeit 2 awful months.
And most evaluators don’t dramatically change their opinions based on a couple of months of performance. Unless, whatever skills he had to make him a top 50 prospect disappeared, there is no reason to change an evaluation of a player because he struggled for 2 months.
If based on his skills, someone thought he was top 50 before the season, that should essentially still be their opinion because he’s doing the same thing he did last year, similar power, similar BB and K rates…the big change makes no sense. He was either too high before or he’s to low now (or some combination of those).
I think you missed what I was trying to further. as “realize his age relative to his AAA competition” would obviously be a plus at it relates to O’Neill.
His stats were fine considering it was his initial exposure to the level, the small sample size inherent, &, again, his relative young age. Most analysts worth their salt would not nick a kid on primarily that (unless maybe it was some kind of fantasy baseball type thing, I suppose).
There’s no such thing as “too high.”
You’re correct, I did. Sorry about that. I thought you were trying to make an argument against him, but it appears we are in agreeance on him.
Gonazles is still highly regarded prospect despite his previous injuries, and a #3 MLB starter is nothing to scoff at. It seems like a pretty even exchange in potential talent to me.
sucks for you guys, i see an inept front office…you guys should protest
As a Braves fan this feels very familiar. Something strange is going on with Dipoto & Co. Its either
A) They wanna cut ties with guys drafted in the previous regime, which happens occasionally in sports, whether its dumb or not, some GM’s REALLY want their own guys
B) The current regime has no patience developing prospects
C) The current regime feels they are excellent talent evaluaters and can tell very quickly whether someone has it or not once they get in their system
I say all this because the M’s traded us Luis Gohara, who oozed potential and is now a top 100 spec, and Alex Jackson who they drafted very high recently and has had his best year while also switching back to a difficult catching position. We traded some higher floor low ceiling guys for them. This current trade sounds like the exact same thing. A high ceiling guy who they gave up on or whatever for a less risky albeit less potential player. Is this the M’s M.O. now?
It is. I don’t recall any other GM who prefers trading higher ceiling minor leaguers for fringe AAAA big leaguers hoping they can contribute, but rarely if ever do. Horrible philosophy in my opinion that will sink a franchise.
Idk what Seattle was thinking, but as a Cardinals fan I’ll take it.
What seems like a bad trade may not be such a bad deal if Gonzales is indeed healthy. Appears Seattle is thinking that he is healthy and will be poised to be the pitcher he everyone thought he was when he debuted with the Cards in 2014. Will have to wait 2-4 years to see who won this deal or if is one that helps both or if both ending up busting in the bigs..
A 22 year old OF who’s currently a consensus top 36-53 guy for a 25 coming off TJ who hasn’t made any lists since 2015 when he made 2 of 3 as a top 50ish guy and has a career 5.71 FIP in 40 IP in MLB.
Seems like a bad trade for SEA.
he’s not currently a consensus top 36-53 guy.
Just looking at his baseball-reference page and going off that.
Aren’t midyear rankings really wonky to use?
I’d imagine they are less wonky than 6 month old ones?
Not necessarily. A month long slump can be enough to knock someone out of the top 100, but that isn’t indicative of their full potential.
Yes I love this as a Cards fan
I’ll love it even more if it means Grichuk is going soon.
Completely agree
I hope Grichuk is gone so too. He turnes into Miguel Cabrera when he plays the Cubs.
I watched Gonzales play in Gonzaga and he was good, but now I don’t think he’ll amount to much. I’ve also seen O’Neill with Langley and he was unreal. IMO bad deal for Seattle
NNOOOOOOO!!!!!!
NOOOOOO I LOVE TYLER!!!!!
What? How can there be multiple accounts with the same user
You’re a bad boy, Putting in those spaces at the end of the handle.
Cards GM being charged with burglery! As a Cubs, hate this deal, smh Seattle.
looks like Theo isn’t the only GM who can pull off a decent trade :)
As a Tigers fan, I say lock him up in the same cell as the Dbacks gm
*former GM
As a Braves fan I can only say “sorry, my fault.”
Jerry Dipoto has lost his F’N MIND!
Dipoto does it again!! thanks 4 nothing jackass
As bad as this looks, dipito has to have some angle here. No MLB GM is blatantly stupid like this seems.
Agreed. I remember the Cards trading can’t-miss prospect Brett Wallace for rental-bat Matt Holliday and the BFIB going nuts. I’ll reserve my opinion for when I see O’Neill in the bigs and hitting well.
Dave Wallace says “hold my beer”
What the hell? There has to be another piece coming to Seattle.
Agree….more news coming
That was my initial reaction as well but I just looked up the press releases from both the Cards and the Mariners. They both report the trade as done, so it seems like a one-for-one.
I like it. Nice return for the Cards for an excess piece.
I like this move, I hope that he preforms well with the Cardinals. Welcome to the St Louis Cardinals
Is Mozeliak collecting decent minor league outfielders so we have no where to put them because the organization has an odd fascination with Randal Grichuk?
girsh
I mean if its Girsch it explains why its a decent trade.
The Mariners must know something about O’Neil that the Cardinals don’t. That’s the only way this makes sense. Marco is good, but I was pretty sure his consensus ceiling is a #3. O’Neil’s numbers are great and he’s young for AAA and still having an alright season. It’s very exciting for the Cardinals until Mabry gets ahold of him and ruins him
Might be my favorite post of the day.
After all, the sting is in the tail.
Gonzales has been pitching pretty stellar in AAA as of late so that might explain it. But yeah I’m worried about Mabry getting ahold of any of our young guys.
O’Neil’s numbers are great? An .800 OPS in hitter friendly PCL with atrocious plate discipline? Not saying this is a good or bad trade, but some of you are over-valuing O’Neil greatly.
In his defense, he is young for the level & I wouldn’t call his plate discipline atrocious, honestly. That being said, preseason prospect rankings die hard (exhibit A – just about every comment section on here) & this was always a prospect with a lot of pressure on his bat specifically.
27% K rate at Triple A this year is pretty bad. It would probably translate to 30 plus % in the majors, which doesn’t bode well for success, let alone stardom.
Granted that he is having a down year, but he’s had some bad batted ball luck. And he’s young for the league. His last four years he had a WRC of 192, 124, 128, and 154. I’ll take that
Incorrect.
Keyboard warriors here know more.
I don’t know anything about the pitcher but O’Neill is blocked in Seattle. With Gamel Hanniger Heredia and Lewis coming up soon he was a trade piece. I thought he might go to Detroit for Verrlander but I guess not. Hate to see him go but hopefully this works out better than the Smyly trade.
Exactly what I thought about him being blocked. You can only have so many outfielders, and this one brought high ceiling starting pitching. Kind of a gamble but it works for me.
Likewise, Gonzales is blocked in St. Louis and is out of options.
The thing is, O’Neill is kinda blocked in St. Louis, too.
We have Fowler for 4 more years, Piscotty for what, 5 more years. That leaves one spot which right now is the Cardinals best offensive player, Tommy Pham
He’s rather old, so I guess he might be pushed out in a couple years, but they also have Bader, Garcia, and Sierra just waiting for a chance to play and Grichuk keeps getting a chance.
They aren’t done trading yet, I would not be shocked if Grichuk gets traded.
Another outfielder. K then
probably stocking up, for a bigger trade
Bravo
So, Seattle traded a top 100 prospect for a reclamation project. Wow
Well that reclamation project has a 2.78 ERA in 74 AAA innings this year.
And I’m pretty sure O’Neill is no longer considered a top 100 spec
O’Neil has heated up lately, which should make him a top 100 prospect
Yes he has those number in AAA but take a look at his one start in the majors this year…
That’s an extremely small sample size.
Right, Gonzales is only 25 (still has rookie eligibility I believe) & has put up some real effective innings in the hitter-happy PCL this year. (57:17 K to BB ratio & a 1.04 WHIP). He’s a nice piece & I think the perceived price confirms that.
Hence why the Mariners will never figure it out, unfortunately.
Mariners must not think O’Neill’s plate discipline will translate well to the next level. Only reason I can think of for this
Another typical DiPoto’a trade….
Yoan moncada will bust
“I’m an idiot”
Got it
Not even relevant to the article whatsoever
derp.
kyle lewis for henry owens next.
O’Neill was blocked in Seattle and they need starters as close to major league ready as possible.. Adding that he was a Jack Z draftee and the broom continues. lol
O’Neill was superfluous for the Mariners. Gamel/Haniger/Heredia are all doing well at the MLB level and are under team control for 5+ years. Gonzales fills a big area of need – quality SP depth at the major league level. Iwakuma may be done, Gallardo’s not guaranteed to be back (and maybe they don’t want him back), and the guys from AAA really haven’t shown much. Prior to the trade, you’re going into 2018 with Paxton/Felix/Miranda as your only proven starters. Now, you have another option in the mix to fill those last two spots.
And I don’t get the “his upside is a #3” stuff. A #3 – or even #4 or #5 – at rookie minimum who can hold his own in the majors is incredibly valuable. That’s how you can afford to, say, extend Paxton. When you have cheap arms in the rotation, you can afford to lock up your best players long-term.
I wouldn’t count on Ariel Miranda to be a quality starting pitcher.
I’m glad someone has some intelligence here. there is no way we could trade O Neill for Verlander or Gray. the last thing the Mariners need is a huge contract on an old pitcher. the pitching market is all demand and no supply. we would have to trade neidert, Lewis, and O’Neill at least for Gray. that makes us a contender for a year or two.
Holding our strong guys and trading for a young pitcher with talent this year is a fantastic move. Also, we have to think that O’ Neill may be a top prospect for the M’s, but he may not even crack the top 10 for a team like the White Sox of Yankees or Cubs. Great move by Dipoto if you ask me.
Agree completely. I trust Jerry’s moves. He traded from a position of strength and TO may hit homers but otherwise he’s not that special. I like the move.
I feel like as a Braves fan O’neill could have been a headliner in a package to get Teheran. Whether Dipoto preferred Gonzales and longer control vs proven MLB success we won’t know. Also dont know what Coppy would have wanted on top but he loves high upside guys, even with flaws (Alex Jackson). I feel like Julio would excel in that huge park as a flyball pitcher, and his road numbers are really good vs so-far hitter friendly Suntrust Park. Just hope the M’s explored all avenues to get the best return and let GM’s with controllable starters that are openly willing to deal know that O’neill was available.
Gonzalez doesn’t have #3 upside though…he has #5/6 upside. No breaking ball, well below average FB, and great change. Once MLB players see him once, they generally crush his FB, recognize the change, and lay off anything out of the zone.
Just what the Red Birds need, another right handed hitting outfielder.
Not a fan of DiPoto or his mentor, Billy Beane. Why do they get so much accolade? Great deal for the Redbirds.
Dipoto has never worked under Billy Beane..
I won’t defend Dipoto, but Beane gets praise because he essentially helped revolutionize the game with his analytics approach. For a while, he made the low budget Oakland A’s (a team that was restricted by cheap owners) into a playoff team. He wasn’t as good in his last year or two as the GM, but he got a lot out of the A’s considering the restraints he had.
Wow, that’s a terrible trade for the Mariners haha. I’d love to hear the reasoning behind this move…
Miguel cabrera to the cardinals for
Sp alex Reyes
Sp luke weaver
C Grayson kelly
Of mag seirra
Lol. That may be the most one sided trade proposal I’ve ever seen on this site, and that’s saying a lot.
*That’s assuming you don’t have a time machine that can bring back 2004 Miguel Cabrera.
What!!!! That’s not onesided. That’s fair!!!
A guy way past his prime with no defensive position for the top 3 prospects in the Cards system? Yeah, sounds great
It is great. It’s gonna be great.
Forget the prospects. Who is going to eat Miggy’s salary? Think Detroit would trade him for anybody if they were taking on that contract especially when they want to rebuild.
You’re an idiot if you think that trade is fair.
That’s fair?
1. Muggy only has so many wins left in his tank and the cards aren’t on the win curve to sacrifice long term wins for short term.
2. Miggy is owed an insane amount of money, unless you have the Tigers paying every penny, there is no reality for such a trade.
3. It’s Carson.
This is an incredibly lopsided trade proposal that the Cardinals would never be interested in.
Miggy and his pay isn’t worth Weaver alone to the Cardinals
Just when I thought you peaked with your misplaced and unfounded moncada post….
Moncada is overrated. Dave dombrowski doesn’t trade good players
he traded andrew miller twice
How twice? First was to the Marlins in 2007 in a package for Miggy. When was the other?
Well at least you managed to spell one name right…
Spelling is overrated
Yeah, I preferred Jennie Garth as well.
I’ll take melania trump or ginger gonzaga. Or eva mendes
Na, now that Jason Priestly what a dreamboat!
That might be the worst trade of all time.
Who exactly is Grayson Kelly?
Classic.
Worst trade ever considered? We have a winner!!!
Good ol Grayson Kelly. He’s spectacular.
Carson’s mother Grayson Kelly… you know she makes a mean soup.
Interesting. Funny how the Cardinals can produce a ton of young hitters through their system while Seattle never can. Mariners may as well trade him because I’m sure he won’t work out anyways.
Cardinals have a lot of young outfielders though so I’m confused?
Most likely to setup a trade that involves Grichuck, Pham, or Bader at least I would assume
You mean pitchers, right?
I get the trade for starting pitching, but, can he help us now? Is JD happy with Andrew Moore and Yovani Gallardo as 4/5? Unless JD knows something we don’t…
This is going to be an interesting next week and half for the cardinals. They are lining up the roster in a way that tells you that they are more than likely going to make a big deal . No reason to bring up Kelly unless it’s an audition for other clubs. Adding another OF prospect leads me to believe one if not more of their current OF will be dealt. Also they now have 4 lefties so one of them may go to. It is going to be interesting to see what they do.
I agree. It makes me believe they are lining up to move Kelly. However, I doubt if Kelly gets much of a show case with Molina commanding most of the playing time. They must be ready to move one of their plethora of outfielders, with Dakota Hudson, a possible chip. Hopefully, they acquire a left-handed outfielder.
Ill take Carson for the Braves. How does, say Kolby Allard sound?
listen from 9:10 to 11:10. it explains the move perfectly
link to soundcloud.com
At first glance this seems like a lopsided deal in STL’s favor. As an M’s fan I’m scratching my head here. I know that we have OF depth and you can never have enough pitching, but ???
Just because you have a glut of soemthing doesn’t mean you sell one for pennies on the dollar
This was a terrible trade for the Mariners. Wtf? A top 50 prospect for an oft-injured pitcher? What are they doing?
i like O’Neil. I like Gonzales. but right now Gonzales is no better than S. Gavaglio
no really a big immediate help
a legitimate 3rd or 4th starter is what is needed and i dont think Marco is that right now
Maybe not at the moment, but once he’s over a year removed from TJS next year, he very well could be one.
“89 homers in 396 PA”. Powerful is an understatement to that. I’m guessing a mistake.
Probably be used as a trade chip this weekend
Tyler O’niell for who?
Marco Gonzales. It says it in the headline.
“as he has 89 homers over 396 minor league plate appearances”
Per MiLB.com, its 1579 PA
89 home runs over 396 plate appearances?
That cant be right.
Was just about to call that out. That would make him the best prospect in history.
I’m guessing they meant 396 games.
Thats still pretty good!
I think this is a solid trade for both teams. mariners are taking a chance on a guy pitching very well in triple a. They need another starter. Even if he’s only a decent #4 that helps. Cardinals are probably gearing up for another trade with either grichuk, piscotty, o’neil, bader, or sierra.
Piscotty isn’t going anywhere, and the specifically acquired O’Neil for his power. One or two of the other three could very well be on the move, though, although they’ll probably wait until Piscotty returns from the DL in a few days.
Mariners done now?
As an outsider I think it fits both clubs really. Garcia is a controllable young pitcher who the Mariners can use and O’Neil is a worthy gamble. I mean both teams are taking a chance (health of Garcia and the fact that O’Neill’s carry tool is his power). The Mariners have enough productive corner OFs and Garcia’s out of options next year. Rankings are pretty fluid and guys experience major loss of value at the upper levels if their plate discipline is kind of exposed. So he might have once been a top 100 guy, but chances are DiPo probably saw major flaws. On the Cardinals end he might be an intriguing upside type of chip to churn.
Do you mean Gonzales?
I wonder if STL will come from nowhere to trade for Sonny Gray now.
Sierra & O’Neill to OAK, Lance Lynn to KC, Soler to OAK?
Why? Lynn for Gray isn’t much of an upgrade and doesn’t address any of their needs.
Solers value is not good
Why didn’t they throw Wong in on the deal too? I am so tired of watching him swinging out of his az at everything ! I hope this is just the start of more trades to come.
Are you watching 2016 Wong? 2017 Wong is batting .304 with a .391 OBP.
Piscotty, Bader, Sierra, Alcantara, O’Neill and Kelly (or Perez) for Stanton & Yelich.
Assume another trade for a closer…any 3 of the following: Lynn, Grichuk, Rosenthal, Wacha or Oh.
And move Pham or Stanton to 1st base.
Thoughts?
I really hope they don’t do something like that. Personally, the only thing I find exciting about the Cardinals are those guys you listed (excluding Piscotty). I’d rather call it a season, trade any and all “MLB talent” they can (Lynn, Rosie, Oh, Grichuk, etc)- for whatever they can get in return- and acquire a big time bat (or two) in the off season.
So trade a closer in Oh or Rosenthal for a closer and also just casually pick up Stantons more than a quarter of a billion dollar contract.
Got it, makes sense
A Dipsnot special. Let’s trade a young power hitter, for a always injured pitcher. Yeah it really worked for him so far. Lol. The definition of insanity is do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. God I’m glad he isn’t the Angels GM anymore.
Gonzales hasn’t been injured much this season. He’s not that injury prone.
Injured much. That has to be a good joke. If a pitcher has to go on the DL every year, he is injury prone.
Yeah. He was a real idiot to trade two pitchers currently with an era over 5 in the minors for Ben Gamel
:)
This seems like a pretty awful trade by the Mariners
weird trade. marco is a bit of a wild card, didn’t think he had any value by himself.
That’s kinda what I was thinking…honestly at this point I had kinda forgotten about him, other than when people would connect him with Rob Kaminsky (I’m an Indians fan, otherwise I might have forgotten about him too). The Mariners must know something we don’t though, because this really doesn’t make a lot of sense for them.
Alex Jackson now Tyler O’Neill? Jackson is having a nice bounce back season.
Also Luis Gohara, doing even better than both. For a team desperate for starting pitching that was a strange trade
Let us not also forget about Zach Littell who was traded for Pazos and is also having a great year and will be in an mlb rotation soon
What bothers me is every DiPoto trade results in the most talented player in the trade leaving Seattle.
Yay now we definitely don’t have to bother cheering for the Ms for the next 15 years
Yup, Ms are bad enough that we don’t need to get worse with every trade. Pack your bags Kyle Lewis, next GM that offers us a broken down marginal 5th starter, you are gone. didn’t realize Bill Bavasi is still running the Ms.
Funny my first comment was :”I didn’t realize DipShito was such good friends with Bill Bavasi.
Oh fu**, let’s compare Tyler O’Neill to Adam Jones. C’mon guy
TRADE RAPE! POLICE!
rape is no joking matter good sir! i challenge you to a dual of wits and chest hair!
Obviously you are not a fan of The League.
With the exception of Dave Stewart, major league GMs generally know what they’re doing, and most likely have access to data that us trade rumors readers do
Is everybody done blowing Tyler O’Neill now? I know it looks like we got “screwed” at first glance, but the guy was a PROSPECT; at a position (corner OF) where the M’s sure do seem to be set at for at least the next few years with Gamel and Haniger. Gonzales has performed BETTER than O’Neill this season in the minors (E.RA. under 3, solid K/BB rate and a WHIP UNDER ONE), at a position of immediate and future need, is a former 1st round pick and even went to a local school (Gonzaga)….let’s allow the guy to start a few games in the teal and navy before we jump off of the cliff
This feels like the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade except they’re not as highly rated
O’neill was coming into this year
I am honestly surprised they didn’t also get Tyler Lyons with Marco. He’s also sort of in the same boat, only being used as the long reliever.
I dunno how much pitching the Mariners needed though.
Wow I’m impressed by this move. Good job Mo, O’Neill is a pretty good prospect from what I hear, so hope he does well with the Cards.