3 Braves trade targets to already dream about and 1 to definitely avoid

Braves rumors: If the Cards don’t want Tyler O’Neill, Atlanta should happily trade for him

Tyler O’Neill has been the subject of plenty of controversy amid the inauspicious start for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2023 season. His lack of hustle saw the outfielder benched early in the season and, while the effort hasn’t necessarily been an issue, the tension has remained. That’s also only been worsened given the struggles in St. Louis after a 10-19 start to the year.

With the Braves clearly needing anything to get out from under untenable weight of Marcell Ozuna at this point, though, perhaps they could look to try and take O’Neill off of the Cardinals’ hands. It’s probably the biggest realistic swing that Atlanta could take, but it would make a ton of sense.

O’Neill certainly isn’t having his best season in 2023 to start, slashing .241/.300/.361 with 30 strikeouts in 83 at-bats to this point. But the speedy power-hitter does have six extra-base hits on the season, meaning that more than one-fourth of his hits on the year have been for multiple bags. Moreover, given that the now-27-year-old posted a .912 OPS with 34 home runs and 26 doubles in just 2021, there is clearly more left in the tank.

Even if his numbers aren’t blowing anyone away, even hitting for some pop and above the Mendoza line is an upgrade over Ozuna. But with the upside that O’Neill could provide and, given the situation in St. Louis and what that could mean for his price in a trade, it’s an option that the Braves would have to consider.