As Mozeliak forecasts the Cardinals’ likely lineup, one name is noticeably missing

Most of the eyewash work to seek out news and rumors at MLB’s annual Winter Meetings involves busy-looking reporters hustling to nowhere and stealing furtive glances at their phones while waiting for long-ignored text messages to be returned.

And then, sometimes, one of the newsmakers themselves takes to the airwaves and makes a declarative statement about his team’s intentions.

Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak settled into MLB Network Radio’s broadcast location at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center before 9 a.m. on Monday and casually ran down his team’s projected position players for the 2024 season.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were mentioned at the corners of the infield, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman were discussed in a timeshare at second base, and Masyn Winn was penciled in at shortstop.

In the outfield, Mozeliak mused, Lars Nootbaar would be in left field, Tommy Edman likely in center, and Jordan Walker in right. Dylan Carlson, by Mozeliak’s estimation, is the fourth outfielder.

Missing from that equation? “Tyler O’Neill is somebody that we’re listening to on trades,” he said.

The revelation is hardly a surprise, but the blatant declaration is radically out of step for a front office that in recent days has gone so far as to decline to discuss the potential signing of a free agent even as that player was touring the team’s facilities.

Mozeliak’s famed information control is centered on his unitary voice of the team’s front office and necessitates holding cards close to the vest.

Now, this is a Card the team is, admittedly, actively seeking to turn over. O’Neill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For at least a year, the Cardinals have been considering whether and how O’Neill might fit into their future plans. After finishing in the top 10 of NL MVP voting in 2021, he has struggled through two consecutive seasons limited by injury and has at times clashed with leadership, including a public spat over effort with manager Oliver Marmol at the start of last season.

Those fences were largely mended as the year unfolded, inspired in part by the team’s realization that the value they sought for O’Neill on the trade market as the deadline approached was not likely to be up to their standards.

O’Neill will be a free agent following next season and is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $5.5 million in arbitration in 2024. He took the team to an arbitration hearing before the 2022 season, which he lost.

After an uneven 2022, O’Neill entered spring training last season eager and prepared to seize a potential vacancy as the team’s starting center fielder. With an uneven spring schedule thanks to the World Baseball Classic, the Cardinals acquiesced to that wish and launched into a fairly extended defense of the story their internal data told about his potential to be their highest ceiling defensive option in center after having won Gold Gloves in left field in both 2020 and 2021.

That defense, and his positioning, lasted 10 starts. He was placed on the injured list on May 5 with a lower back strain and would remain there for two months, returning to that list in mid-September with a sprained right foot which ended his season.

Treatment for the back injury was slow going, and eventually resulted in outside consultation from a physician closely associated with O’Neill’s agent, Scott Boras. The injections which were recommended returned strength and removed discomfort, and O’Neill spoke at the time of the relief he felt from being able to perform basic life tasks such as holding his infant daughter which were previously causing him pain.

A representative of the Boras Corporation said the agent planned to address Mozeliak’s comments during his annual Winter Meetings media gathering on Tuesdays.

Potential destinations for O’Neill can be difficult to pin down, given the discrepancy between his perceived and actual trade value. One which stands out is the Seattle Mariners, the team which drafted him and traded him to the Cardinals in 2017 for lefty Marco Gonzales.

Gonzales was traded to Atlanta late Sunday night alongside Jarred Kelenic, Seattle’s incumbent left fielder, in a deal which was designed to create payroll flexibility, Mariners president Jerry Dipoto told reporters.

While initial speculation centered on the possibility of the Mariners reaching for superstars like Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto, neither seems as likely as a major league hitter who makes a reasonable salary but could be had on the trade market. O’Neill, who comes with added organizational familiarity, would seem to be a perfect fit.

The Mariners also seemingly link up as a team who can fulfill some of St. Louis’s needs out of the bullpen. Righties Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash would represent true coups for Mozeliak’s group; perhaps more likely is a pitcher such as Justin Topa, who at age 32 pitched his first fully healthy season in the majors in 2023 and turned in stellar results as a ground ball specialist.

Everything about Topa fits the way the Cardinals historically have done business. Publicly stating a desire to trade a player, as Mozeliak did with O’Neill, emphatically does not. A busy week of activity in Nashville should allow that water to find its level.