The Cardinals have been exploring trade scenarios involving outfielder Tyler O’Neill — president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged as much at this week’s Winter Meetings — and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Royals and Mariners are two of the several teams who’ve spoken to the Cards about the 28-year-old O’Neill.
A two-time Gold Glove winner in left field, O’Neill had a monster 2021 season that netted him an eighth-place finish in National League MVP voting but has battled injuries throughout his career. He slashed .286/.352/.560 with 34 home runs. He walked at a below-average 7.1% clip and fanned at a lofty 31.3% rate, but it was an undeniably excellent campaign all around. The two seasons since have been decidedly less than that.
From 2022-23, O’Neill has appeared in just 168 games and totaled 649 plate appearances with a .229/.310/.397 slash. Along the way, he’s dealt with shoulder, hamstring, foot and back injuries. Staying on the field has been a problem throughout his big league tenure; since making his MLB debut back in 2018, O’Neill has been placed on the injured list on 12 different occasions, owing to a wide variety of ailments. He’s controlled for just one more year before becoming a free agent, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects O’Neill to earn a reasonable $5.5MM salary this coming season.
The Cardinals have been seeking bullpen help on the trade market, and it stands to reason that even one year of O’Neill could land them that. Goold notes that they’re also open to packaging him in a larger deal to acquire a front-end rotation upgrade, though such a deal would be far harder to orchestrate. Excellent as O’Neill was in 2021, that was two years ago, and he’s now a one-year bounceback rental. He wouldn’t be a prominent factor in any package for a high-end starter.
As for the two reported suitors, both make some degree of sense. The Mariners could use a right-handed bat to replace free agent Teoscar Hernandez and Eugenio Suarez, whom they traded to the Diamondbacks earlier in the offseason. Whether O’Neill fits the Mariners’ stated preference of adding more contact to the lineup, however, is an open question. He fanned at 25.2% clip last year — far lower than the 30%-plus marks posted by both Suarez and Hernandez. However, O’Neill whiffed in more than 31% of his plate appearances in his best season and has a career 30% mark.
That said, Seattle’s interest is only natural, considering the Mariners are the team that selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft. That predates president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s time with the team — and it was Dipoto who traded O’Neill to St. Louis in exchange for Marco Gonzales — but there are some longtime holdovers who surely still view O’Neill in a favorable light.
In reporting on the Mariners’ interest in Jorge Soler this morning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested that the M’s might want to spread their remaining financial resources out among multiple targets. O’Neill would allow them to do that more than Soler, who’ll likely command a salary two to three times as large as O’Neill in free agency. Then again, it’s also possible the M’s could sign Soler to DH and acquire O’Neill to play left field in place of Jarred Kelenic, who was traded to the Braves earlier in the week. The Mariners’ payroll projection right now checks in under $120MM, and Dipoto has spoken on record about how payroll can increase over last year’s $140MM mark.
As for the Royals, they’re lacking in the way of any established big league outfielders. Royals outfielders combined for a lowly .228/.294/.393 batting line in 2023, with the resulting 84 wRC+ ranking 29th in the Majors. O’Neill fits the Royals’ longstanding preference for premium defensive players, and the upside of his 2021 season at the plate is the type of production that the budget-conscious Royals typically can’t afford to pursue in free agency.
At present, the Royals’ outfield mix consists of MJ Melendez, Drew Waters, Kyle Isbel, Edward Olivares and Nelson Velazquez. The latter of that quintet surely earned a full look in 2024 with a huge power showing following his acquisition from the Cubs at last year’s deadline, and Melendez has long been one of the organization’s top prospects. None from that bunch has had any sustained MLB success, however, and Melendez — also a catcher — grades out quite poorly from a defensive standpoint.
The Royals are known to be in the market for rotation help, but general manager J.J. Picollo also said earlier in the offseason that a bat who could hit somewhere from third to sixth in the middle of his order would be nice to add. A healthy O’Neill is absolutely that type of bat, and his projected salary fits comfortably within the $30MM+ that Picollo acknowledged he has to spend this winter.
Since no one is here because everyone’s on the Ohtani thread, this is a good time to announce that I believe Joe Buck to be a national treasure.
Is that the same as in the midnight cowboy.?
Royals should trade Carlos Hernandez for O’Neil then flip mj and Maikel to the marlins for Braxton Garrett or Edward Cabrera
MJ and Maikel for Braxton Garrett would be a great deal if the Marlins will take it. Hernandez is a disaster in the pen. He takes an inning or so to settle down. So even if he can throw 102 mph he can’t close. His 2021 stats as a starter show that after he settles in he is nails. He is either a back of rotation starter or worthless.
Why build around him, when you can just acquire him 6 years later.
Time for a lot of teams to start pivoting, and for the rest of free agency to move along.
Is a .228/.294/.393 stat line really going to be improved by someone with a recent .229/.310/.397 stat line?
What’s his career stat line?
Look it up. I imagine you already did.
Both teams are a good fit for ONeill. The Mariners have depth if he gets hurt which is good. The Royals could trade him at the deadline if he bounces back just like they did Chapman. I like Justin Topa from the Mariners. As far as what the Royals have I really don’t know. Cardinals need a reliever. I like Singer but with the Lynn and Gibson signings that probably wouldn’t work.
Hard pass
Who do you think is playing corner outfield for the Mariners in 2024?
Hopefully someone much better than Tyler O’Neill like Randy Arozarena but most likely.. Tyler O’Neill or Dom Canzone lol
O’Neill in ’21 was better than Arozarena. but who knows what you’re getting. and he’s a better defender every day. I don’t think they’re going to get a ton for him though.
Seattle is arguably in need of 4 bats for a variety of roles.
So, they’re going to check in on just about everyone. I wouldn’t be too interested in him as a regular outfielder, but Seattle probably isn’t, either.
Dude you just got done telling me there is no room on the Mariners roster for more than 1 outfielder. Now they need 4 bats???
That’s not what I said. I said there’s no room four 5 bench bats, because they have 4 and Marlowe would be the 5th. In fact, technically, Marlowe would be the 6th, because Trammell is still on the 40 and without options.
But I’m talking about regulars here: 3B, RF, LF, and DH.
Platoon Rojas & Urías at 2B, option or trade Haggerty & Caballero, move or DFA Trammell and they’d have Canzone as their fourth/fifth outfielder off the bench.
What I want and what I expect are two different things, but this is how it would work.
Topa for O’Neill is fine and fair but O’Neill is not an impact bat. Is he better than Kelenic.. maybe, slightly, I guess? He hasn’t been above average since 2021 so its yet another low cost dice roll for marginal WAR. If the M’s get desperate maybe but this is not the kind of move I want them to be making right now. Now what I hope and what they do are two different things.. and I think M’s will make a move exactly like this.
ONeill if he’s healthy and gets some good coaching which he has never had in St Louis is absolutely an impact bat.
Yes you can want and hope all you want this move makes sense for what the Mariners have been doing.
ONeill is a good player. I wish the Cardinals would keep him. The Cardinals manager Oli Marmol is a clown who will probably be fired by July but he wants ONeill gone so he’s going to be dealt. ONeill is a good player whoever gets him is going to be glad they did.
I agree there’s upside I just think the likelihood of the Mariners extracting it are unlikely. I’m a Cardinals fan too and agree 100% Oli is a clown. Mozeliak too
Mariners, Diamondbacks or Royals seem to be the teams. Mariners need him more than anyone else imo.
I wouldn’t rule out Chicago or Boston.
You called it Stevil – it’s Boston. Nice insight. Excellent work!
There was an article on MassLive about a month ago that talked about Boston’s need for a right-handed outfielder.
They’re still LHH-heavy.
He’s gonna crush it in Boston. Seattle is a much tougher place to hit. I liked the fit better for him personally in Seattle but Boston is great for him too.
O’Neil is always awesome the few weeks after he comes back from the injured list. So, just remember as soon as he starts to slip with his hitting you have to put him on the I.L. For a a few weeks and repeat this cycle.
Yeah he’s awesome. Then he gets benched for no reason at all and he gets mad about it. That’s what keeps happening.
Look up how many games ONeill has missed HEALTHY for his career. It’s a large number.
I really don’t think Seattle will move Topa. They just brought in a bag of question marks they hope to fix. Topa is there go-to 6-7 inning guy. I think he’s more valuable to Seattle’s BP than he would be as a trade chip
I like O’Neill, but Topa would be a massive overpay. Topa makes 1/4 the $ as O’Neill and was 3x as productive last year(with 2 more years of control after the season to boot). Relievers production can be volatile but he was one of the best on the M’s who had a top 3 bullpen.
3 times as productive as ONeill?
I think you are just making stuff up.
O’Neill had a .3 WAR in 2023 and Topa had a 1.6 WAR so strictly by WAR terms it was 5x. Topa pitched in nearly as many innings as games played by O’Neill. Like I said I like O’Neill but he’s only had one season in his entire career that he’s played at least 100 games.
You are using baseball reference WAR?
And production, but WAR has it purpose.
Fact is Topa is much, much more valuable than O’Neill. Proof is what the Sox gave up, basically a bucket of balls and a tub of gum for him
The fact is the Cardinals wanted ONeill gone. The fact is the Cardinals have made terrible decisions regarding outfielders for a decade now. And this is another one of those decisions.
You missed out. Enjoy whatever scraps the Mariners find on the floor.
M’s have a dominant pitching staff, they will be fine. If they played in the Central AL or NL they would win the division by double digits as they stand now.
Yeah but they don’t and only have 1 playoff appearance in the last 20 years. And every deal they have made this offseason has been a salary dump.
Well by dumping two of the top 5 highest SO hitters is not a huge deal, especially when one is in decline in Suarez. Gozo is done had no where to put him, and they included Kelenic and White who were no longer in the future plans. Really it was addition by subtraction. They will have the same payroll if not slightly increased than last year. It’s called cutting dead weight which was needed.
They also received two incredibly talented arms that hadn’t yet developed. The Guardians are the only MLB team equal to Seattle in developing pitchers in MLB. I like the chances on one of them becoming an extremely valuable piece in the near future.
See ya!!!!!
Topa for O’Neil seems to make sense for both sides
If you are going to take my idea at least acknowledge it man.
Been ready for him to go. Long overdue.
As an Ms fan, would hate to see it. If Swanson went to the Jays for Teo, you’d hope Topa has more value than the washed up, likely juicer O’Neil.
O’Neil isn’t much of an upgrade over the other five AAAA outfielders the Ms have.
Washed up juicer?
Are you jealous of him? That’s weird man. You are weird.
lol when it’s time it’s time. Held on for to long and now they will get little to nothing in return! If you need further education on the game please let me know!
Maybe you should monitor little league games
It’s weird that you think that physique is natural Joel. Wake up little buddy
His dad was a professional bodybuilder fella. He works out like a mad man. It’s weird that you can’t give him credit for that and instead hate on him for it. That’s really weird.
Held on for too long? We’re they supposed to trade him after 2021?
Just dumb. Weird haters out there jealous because they got a gut and are too lazy to get in shape.
Exactly Joel, his Dad has access to anything you can think of. Don’t be so naive
So ONeill has been using steroids cheating the system and getting hurt because?????
Good gosh dude. Jealousy is weird.
Couldn’t give two shi$$ about him working out. He gets paid to play baseball. What he does on his off time is on him. He is overrated and it’s time to take his ballgame and dumbbells somewhere else see ya
And, Oneil has been trying to lose some muscle and weight in an effort to become more athletic and have less injuries. Usually hamstring injuries.
He was training like a body builder because his dad was a body builder and he idolized his dad. He’s trying to change that now.
Your comment caught me off guard…til I looked at your screen name.
O’Neil is due for a break out year. You know he is going to try and stay on the field as much as possible in 24 before he becomes a free agent in 25.
So the M’s may get the benefits of that if received in a trade.
O’Neill has way more value than Topa. Not that it will stop the Cards from giving him away.
The Cardinals aren’t getting full value for ONeill. Topa looks like a decent reliever I will take him.
There is so little good hitting on the market they should get more for him. But i agree with you they probably won’t.
Wish they would explore a bigger deal for Woo – TON, Burleson and good prospects like Saggese. But dont know what the Mariners would ask – intetested in Mariner fan views
*sigh*
An open letter to Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners Organization:
No…. just no.
Signed
Does it even effin’ matter… just no.
ONeill is better than Kelenic. And at least ONeills injuries weren’t self inflicted like punching a water cooler.
Significantly better? No.
He’s better. And he’s available. Won’t cost a ton of money which seems to be really important to the Mariners.
Who do you think the Mariners will sign or trade for?
@Joel P – I do appreciate the passion for Tyler O’Neill, but anyone who has a history of injuries or staying on the field should probably be a red flag.. Of the 6 years in the MLB, he has played over 100 games once. I’ll give him a pass during the 2020 shortened season when he played in 50 of the 60 games. 2021 was a good season for him… no argument here, but that one year can’t be the standard at which we see/evaluate him. The other seasons would seem to be what to expect.
Other than 2021 (best season) and the 2020 CoVID shortened season (worst season) – O’Neill has averaged 73 games, a .238 hitter, 33 R, 51 H, 9 2B, 10 HRs, 30 RBI, 6 SBs. Personally…. only a personal opinion… that’s not worth the trade. I’d seek something else. I don’t know who that is, but once the Ohtani circus is resolved, I would hope things come into focus.
You don’t get it DFF
He sat on the bench HEALTHY for much of 2019 and 2020 while the team played Dexter “the contract” Fowler. He wasn’t hurt.
Even in his injury filled years of 2022 and 2023 he’s been good when he plays. He’s a great baserunner. He’s a great defender.
Who else is out there? I would take ONeill over Soler any day of the week. And that ignores salary Soler will make way more money and require numerous years. ONeill is a soon to be free agent who will cost 5.5 million or so in 2024.
If ONeill was being valued at his 2021 season he would cost a ton in trade. He’s not and he won’t. So what is your point?
You don’t get it. He’s a good player. He’s Mike Trout without the brains. He needs coaching he has tons of talent but he’s kinda dumb. He has to stop trying to pull everything.
Joel P – you are definitely right…. I don’t get it.
Look at WAR instead of simply looking at offensive numbers. And again you have to understand he wasn’t given a legit opportunity until 2021.
Not available now
Uhhh so you’re saying O’Neill is injury prone and kelenic was just stupid?
Tyler Glasnow is injury prone. Makes 25 million in 2024 and people act like he has trade value.
M’s brass don’t care if he’s better. Is he cheaper?
O’Neill for Gilbert, straight up.
O’Neill for Ragans, straight up.
Lol
You do realize the Royals got Ragans for Chapman right? 1 year of Chapman they were hoping he bounced back and he did. Not too different than ONeill.
Ms trade Geno & let Teo walk because they have 30%+ K rates.
Then trade for O’Neil whose last decent season saw hime K 31% of the time.
Yikes
ONeills last decent season had him winning a gold glove and finishing top 10 in MVP votes.
Yikes……
He’s not far removed from a 148 OPS+ 2021 season with a 912 OPS. A healthy O’Neill presents a lot of upside, plus he’s 28 years old, not some aging has been.
Yeah there is a ton to like about ONeill. And the way Mozeliak ans Marmol have handled him he’s gonna come at a discount.
I think trading ONeill is going to be a huge mistake. But they want him gone
The whole “hustling” comment from Marmol was so dumb. You keep that in the locker room.
Guy is in better shape than 99.999% of the planet and you call him out for not hustling lol
Marmol will be gone soon. And it wont be soon enough.
He’s not freaking Vogelbach here lol
Besides, you don’t air that out to the media. Marmol needs an ego check, and Yadi being around again will probably keep him in line.
Big Yadi fan even as a Cubs fan!
ONeill is in better shape than basically anyone on the planet. You could argue he needs to train like a baseball player and not a body builder that’s fair. But to say he doesn’t hustle? That’s insanely stupid.
He wasn’t hustling on the play and it cost them a run in that game. Watch the play it was really bad. If he was hurt I will give him a pass, but the dude wasn’t running hard at all. Someone else said it “you have to keep that criticism in house.”
Marmol is not a brainiac. Tyler was on his was back from a hamstring injury, and reads a hit up the middle as a 2nd to 3rd ball. Pop sends him on a questionable shot at the plate, and Tyler kicks it into high gear.
They had told him they would take it easy on him coming back, and then THAT play happens.
Hard to believe that was what set off Marmol, but he was already feeling pressure as the Cards were not rolling.
Hope the M’s pick him up. They certainly aren’t going full guns like they had promised.
He wasn’t hustling because it was Acuna who the ball was hit to and it was hit hard. He figured he wasn’t going to be sent home because he shouldn’t have been sent home. Is that really his fault?
Vince Coleman could have been rounding third and he would have been out at home.
Marmol is a clown
Doesn’t matter he was told to head home and all he is required to do is run hard. He didn’t do that at all. Whether you like it or not it’s accurate and that was the start of his issues last year. He’s hurt a ton and doesn’t like to play on artificial turf.
You don’t run hard like that the way the ball was hit and who it was hit to. It’s the 3b coaches job to see those things. ONeill saw them and the 3b coach didn’t. That was the problem.
They should have traded Marco for O’Neill…
Why do we have a bottom dweller budget when we’re ready to win NOW?! This is BS!!
Who’s willing to give up a relief arm for a high risk/high reward player?
How about a huge deal. Oneill, Thompson, pages, chase Davis, prieo, matz and 8 mil, for woo and topa. Matz and Thompson fill woo and topa, they have matz for next year too or they can trade him too. Oneill for the outfield, Davis is our number 3 or 5 prospect, prieto is another 12 prospect infielder too and pages is top 30 prospect and a decent catcher prospect. We get woo, upgrade over matz and topa an upgrade over Thompson. Seattle gets prospects and a ton of potential(Thompson and oneill and possibly matz) while also taking on very little in salary
While the Royals could use the potential power that O’Neill has they already have a crowded OF and Nelson Velasquez might be that thump they need. Melendez/Waters/Velasquez with Isbel and Olivares is plenty and they are crowded at 1B/DH with Nick Pratto and Vinny Pasquantino (and Salvy Perez against Lefties).
Seattle could use O’Neill. They definitely need some pop to replace Suarez and Hernandez and they probably need to add another corner Outfielder to go with Cade Marlowe and Dominic Canzone
I’d rather see Dylan Carlson traded than O’Neill. Yes, O’Neill is injury prone. But if he had the confidence that he is THE STARTING left fielder, it may allow him to regain his 2021 form. Dylan has generally, IIRC, stayed healthy and not proven himself with the bat. The dude needs to bulk up. Anyway, that’s how I see it. Maybe though people in the industry view Dylan as less valuable for the same reasons, so no one wants him and the Cards are stuck with this, “well crap” kind of position. Not a good look for the Cards front office how they have managed/treated their players of late.
Wonder if Dombrowski has kicked the tires on this guy?
He is the type of RH hitting OF type they are looking for. He’ll come fairly cheap and maybe this’ll be a prove it year for him. If not they can easily cut bait after the season?
I think ONeill would look great in Rockies colours. Not rooting for a Seattle reunion tho, unless it’s virtually free.
Wherever he goes, he will wind up putting up better numbers and having a better season than Walker, Nootbaar, Edman and Carlson.
Better numbers than those listed yes I totally agree better number OF DAYS on the IL!!
Update your articles
This didn’t age well.
facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161043062243326
No more rumors about the M’s please even the minor ones, Are there any others ones.
“Excellent as O’Neill was in 2021” is not proper grammar. You can’t just leave a word out. It HAS to be “AS excellent as O’Neill was in 2021.” Steve Adams’ writing continues to be brutal.