Tyler O’Neill’s status as a potential trade candidate isn’t exactly a well-kept secret.
It was widely anticipated going into the offseason that the Cardinals would consider offers for O’Neill and teammate outfielder Dylan Carlson. During this week’s Winter Meetings, Cardinals head of baseball operations John Mozeliak cast doubt on the possibility of an O’Neill trade in an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.
“As it stands, [Lars Nootbaar], Tommy Edman, and [Jordan Walker] would probably be in the outfield if we were to play tomorrow,” stated Mozeliak. Dylan Carlson would be the fourth outfield player for us. .. We are paying attention to Tyler O’Neill when it comes to transactions.
While Mozeliak acknowledged that he has generally received “a lot of hits” on his outfielders, O’Neill was the only one he singled out as a possible trade candidate. Since the Cards have long opposed dealing Nootbaar, it makes sense that they would also be reluctant to consider selling Walker, who was among the top-ranked prospects in the game going into the 2023 season and who had a.291/.358/.478 slash after the trade deadline.
The 28-year-old O’Neill has reportedly started to stand out from the pack. Though the Cardinals might use Edman in the infield, giving O’Neill more playing time, the infield outlook has also become crowded with the emergence of talents like Masyn Winn at shortstop, Nolan Gorman at second base, and Brendan Donovan at utility. The 21-year-old Winn struggled to hit in his MLB debut last season (.172/.230/.238), but that was only in a sample of 137 plate appearances. Mozeliak specifically mentioned Winn in his MLB Network Radio appearance, characterizing his infield mix as “pretty solid,” with veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado at the corners, Gorman/Donovan at second base, and Winn at short.
All signs seem to point to a potential trade of O’Neill, who as recently as 2021 slashed .286/.352/.560 with 34 homers and Gold Glove defense in left field but has since mustered just a .229/.310/.397 slash in 169 games. Injuries have played a significant factor in those struggles; O’Neill had an IL stint due to a shoulder impingement and a pair of IL stints for hamstring strains during the 2022 season. His 2023 campaign included a trip to the 60-day injured list for a lower back strain and a later return to the IL for a foot sprain.
O’Neill can undoubtedly change games when healthy, but during his big league career, he hasn’t been healthy enough. He hasn’t often been on the field for the bulk of a season, appearing in 50 games during the abbreviated 2020 season and 138 games in 2021. He has only ever played in 100 games and made 400 big league plate appearances during the 2021 year.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects that O’Neill, who is expected to become a free agency at the end of the current season, will make $5.5MM in revenue in 2019. Although his power is obviously real, he has generally played a little below average at the bat over the course of the last two seasons due to injuries. He remains an above-average runner and a strong defender in left field. O’Neill is a very enticing option for a change of scenery, but his value in a trade will be diminished by his lengthy history of ailments, lack of club control, and poor recent performance at the plate.
