Brewers Rumors: Crew Expressing Trade Interest In Cardinals Outfielder?

The Milwaukee Brewers have had to shuffle quite a few players around in their outfield this year. Rookie Joey Wiemer was called up due to an Opening Day injury to Luis Urias. Garrett Mitchell sustained a shoulder injury that likely has ended his season. Blake Perkins has made his MLB debut and lastly Raimel Tapia was brought in to shore up the outfield.

Even with numerous contributions from several players in the outfield, in particular right field, the Brewers outfield defense has been quite good. Christian Yelich is having a resurgent year in the field, Joey Wiemer is an elite center fielder, and Brian Anderson's arm strength suits him well when playing right field.

In addition to Milwaukee's current major league group they also have one top prospects knocking on the door of a big league promotion. Sal Frelick recently returned to Triple-A after recovering from thumb surgery, but he is a call away. Jackson Chourio is playing quite well in Double-A but a 2024 MLB debut is more likely than this year.

Regardless of the current Brewers outfield makeup and minor league depth, MLB Insider Robert Murray recently mentioned on a podcast that Milwaukee is expressing interest in a St. Louis Cardinals outfielder who has two gold glove awards.

The Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly expressing trade interest in St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O'Neill.

Robert Murray indicated in his podcast titled "The Baseball Insiders" that the Brewers have expressed interest in Tyler O'Neill, but that he doesn't necessarily know of the likelihood of that due to the two teams being in the same division.

If the Brewers are indeed interested in the speedy outfielder who won the 2020 and 2021 Gold Glove awards and additionally received MVP votes in 2021, they would have to be prepared to give up a moderately sized haul to their division rival. O'Neill is making $4.95 million this year in arbitration and is under team control until the conclusion of the 2024 season.

One big concerning factor with O'Neill is health. As it stands today Tyler O'Neill is on the 60-day IL with a low back strain. Injuries have derailed his past two seasons and his offensive production has dipped during that stretch as well. He has 30 home run potential to go along with good speed, but strikeouts have been an issue as well as evidenced by his career 31% K rate.

Even with the Cardinals poised to be sellers this year, it would be very surprising to see the Brewers swing this divisional trade and give up valuable pieces to their division rival. Additionally, acquiring him would be a big gamble given his injury history and it may only crowd up their outfield.

These two teams don't match up often on trades, especially since both have been contenders in recent years. With the Cardinals looking like sellers, perhaps that will change.