*Photo from MLB Trade Rumors*
Fenway Park has itself another power bat. The Boston Red Sox have acquired OF Tyler O'Neill from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for RHP's Nick Robertson and Victor Santos, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Both teams have confirmed the trade.
The acquisition of O'Neill gives the Red Sox a needed righty bat in an outfield that is lefty heavy. Rob Refnsyder was the only other righty outfielder on the roster, with the other 3 being left handed. O'Neill is scheduled to hit free agency at the end of the coming season. He's projected to earn $5.5 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility.
O'Neill is coming off his 6th season in the majors. He ended the year with a .231/.312/.403 slash line with a 94 OPS+, hitting 9 home runs and 14 doubles to go with 21 RBI's in 72 games. He missed time throughout the season with a back injury and a right foot sprain.
A native of British Columbia, O'Neill's best season in the majors was 2021. He hit 34 home runs and 26 doubles, stealing 15 bases and driving in 80 runs as he finished in 8th place in NL MVP voting. He won his second career gold glove in the field as well, coming right after he won his first in 2020.
All 6 seasons in the majors for O'Neill have come in a Cardinals uniform. He has a .248/.318/.458 slash line to his name with a 112 OPS+, hitting 78 home runs with 217 RBI's and 67 doubles in 477 regular season games. He has gone hitless and drawn one walk over 5 plate appearances in 4 playoff games.
One piece coming back to the Cardinals is Robertson, who made his MLB debut in 2023. Combined between the Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, Robertson posted a 6.04 ERA, 3.88 FIP, and 1.746 WHIP, tossing 22 1/3 innings over one start and 17 relief appearances.
Santos is the other part of the return. He missed all of 2023 due to an arm injury. In 2022, he posted a 4.97 ERA and 1.269 WHIP, averaging 1.4 home runs per 9 innings over 145 innings, split between 25 starts and 3 relief appearances for Double A Portland and Triple A Worcester.
St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in a statement that "As we look to add pitching depth, as well as address concerns on potential playing time in the outfield, we felt this deal worked well in addressing both of those issues. We are excited to add Nick to our bullpen, and we feel Victor gives us added depth in our Minor League system."
O'Neill joins a Red Sox outfield group that has Refsynder, Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, and Wilyer Abreu, with utilityman Ceddanne Rafaela in the mix as well. Robertson and Santos become the latest pitching additions for the Cardinals, having already signed Lance Lynn, Sonny Gray, and Kyle Gibson, while picking Ryan Fernandez in the major league phase of the rule 5 draft from the Red Sox.
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