The Baltimore Orioles are in a rut. On Saturday, the O's fired manager Brandon Hyde after a dismal start which has Baltimore sitting in the cellar of the AL East. Prior to the season, the Orioles were in the conversation for American League favorites. What the heck happened? While there is plenty of blame to go around, one can't help but point to the moves Mike Elias made this winter. Namely, they aren't paying off so far. That can certainly be said about Tyler O'Neill, who signed a three-year, $49 million deal this past winter.
O'Neill contributed 2.6 WAR to the Boston Red Sox just last season thanks in large part to his improvement at the plate. There has never been any question about O'Neill's defense, even dating back to his days in St. Louis as a young player.
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Baltimore Orioles exposed with latest Tyler O'Neill roster move
O'Neill plays gold glove-caliber defense in the outfield. However, he leaves much to be desired at the plate, and was hitting well under the Mendoza line as of this week. Here's what FanSided wrote about O'Neill just a few days ago:
"I don't mean to give away the plot, but the Orioles have not been able to get him right, if you will. While O'Neill has returned from the injured list, he's performing just as poorly as he was in late April. Orioles fans don't ask for much, but hitting .200 is a baseline for any player, especially one that is being paid near $50 million for the next three seasons."
The Orioles placed O'Neill on the injured list Sunday morning due to left should discomfort. While only a minor injury, O'Neill has a long history of missing time in untimely moments. Just ask Cardinals fans. Yet, what's even more funny is the player promoted to the taxi squad in part to replace O'Neill, and that is former St. Louis top prospect Dylan Carlson.
Carlson's had a small sample size in Baltimore this season, already accumulating a -0.2 WAR in just 15 at-bats. He is certainly not the long-term outfield answer, but at this point it's fair to question whether O'Neill is, either. Carlson finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2021. Since then, he has bottomed out, and perhaps Elias should be asking himself why he paid so much money to add two outfielders who failed to make a long-term impact with St. Louis in the first place.
Cardinals fans learned that lesson long ago.