Cardinals rumors: Starting pitcher could be traded, O’Neill trade, Walker excelling

Tyler O’Neill injury return and trade coming?

Tyler O’Neill is returning from his injury, expected to meet with team doctors to determine the next steps of his recovery after suffering a lower back strain last month. O’Neill noted that after recent injections and a visit with a specialist in Los Angeles, he’s pain-free for the first time in, “months.”

Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated connected some dots and suggested that O’Neill’s inclusion in various trade rumors all season long could mean that his return from the injured list is more interesting for what team he ends up on next, not necessarily for the Cardinals.

Jon Heyman has thrown out the Yankees as a possible trade partner for O’Neill, a team in desperate need of some offense, as their bats have gone almost entirely dormant in the period since Aaron Judge went on the injured list after hurting his toe.

So, O’Neill’s return might be more of a, “welcome back, now get on a plane and get outta here!” if anything. But expect the Cardinals to get him out there as proof of concept at the very least to try to sell him to teams who might be interested.

As far as how much the Cardinals could get in return, that’s tricky. O’Neill’s offense has been lackluster the last two seasons after a rock-solid 2021 in which he had an OPS 48 percent better than average. He’s dealt with injury after injury, so teams might be leery to send out much value to get him on their roster.

The left fielder has appeared in 29 games this season so far. He’s a free agent after 2023, so he’d be a rental option for competitive teams that need bats.