Mike O'Neill

[jorgenswest]

The Cardinals designated Mike O'Neill to make space for George Kottaras. Really unusual numbers. He has a career OBP in the minors of .418 without power or steals. In 2013, he has 97 walks and 37 strike outs.

 

He has options, but would need to be on the 40. Is he worth a look in Rochester and a spot on the 40?

 

As teams make moves in July, there will be more players that will be available having been taken off the 40. The Twins should be paying attention. They may create some space if they can move a Burton or Guerrier or Florimon for a C prospect in A ball.

[twinsfan34]

Yeah, he's interesting guy for sure. No power, not much speed, but good plate discipline. I don't know if he'll be a MLBer. But who knows...at age 27/28 you might see him in Oakland's lineup.

[Brandon]

We should absolutely dump a successful reliever for an outfielder hitting .250 with no power in AA.

[Tibs]

The next Greek God of Walks?

[jorgenswest]

We should absolutely dump a successful reliever for an outfielder hitting .250 with no power in AA.

 

I am not sure I get it. I don't think the a Twins need to trade for him. There may be opportunities on the 40 man roster as a result of trading a player like Correia or Burton or Guerrier who will not be with the team next year for a class A that doesn't need to be on the 40. The waiver claim addition to the 40 is the extra in the deal.

 

With possible openings on the 40, shouldn't the Twins be considering these opportunities?

[ScrapTheNickname]

We should absolutely dump a successful reliever for an outfielder hitting .250 with no power in AA.

 

I don't disagree, but I had a look at his stats for myself, and O'Neil is a career .314/.418/.393 hitter in the minor leagues.

[Thrylos]

Here is an interview at Fangraphs a couple seasons ago.

 

I'd take him over Fryer at this point, but would the Twins?

[diehardtwinsfan]

He's got a career minor league OPS of .810. That's not bad, but there's zero power there as his OBP is higher than his SLG. I'd say he's not a bad 4th OF type, he does appear to move around, though I have no idea how good his defense is. He's a DFA, so he can be had for a 40 man spot. I'm not sure what he has in terms of options, but if he's out of them (which is probably why he'd be DFAd), then he requires a spot on the 25 man.

[twinsnorth49]

We should absolutely dump a successful reliever for an outfielder hitting .250 with no power in AA.

 

Sarcasm completely unnecessary. No we shouldn't dump a successful reliever for said outfielder, we should consider dumping a reliever who has no more to offer this team moving forward, ie Burton or Guerrier.

[jorgenswest]

He's got a career minor league OPS of .810. That's not bad, but there's zero power there as his OBP is higher than his SLG. I'd say he's not a bad 4th OF type, he does appear to move around, though I have no idea how good his defense is. He's a DFA, so he can be had for a 40 man spot. I'm not sure what he has in terms of options, but if he's out of them (which is probably why he'd be DFAd), then he requires a spot on the 25 man.

 

He has used one option, but he does need a 40 man roster spot.

 

There will be others as contending teams add in July. The Twins should be paying attention. Even moves where you claim and then remove should be considered.

[DocBauer]

I believe the Twins should indeed look for bargain options along this line, but not sure there is anything here with O'Neill that offers anything more than AAA filler. And the Twins might already have as good or better option there in Eric Farris.

 

I do think we should keep eyes and options open. And I do think that if Correia or Willingham turn out to have any real value, then a viable, decent CF/4th OF acquisition should be strongly considered for next season. Just not sure this is it.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The guy can hit for average. He's 26. Why not grab him?

[Brock Beauchamp]

An interesting player, no doubt. He profiles a lot like Revere but in a way I can stomach much more than Revere's swing-happy-run-it-out style of play, which tends to falter through a player's late 20s.

 

Given the current CF situation, I could think of a lot worse guys to take a flyer on and see what happens. I doubt O'Neill will ever be a starter in MLB because he's not particularly good in the field and with a stature like pre-Super-Soldier-serum Captain America, he's never going to hit for power.

 

But as a fourth outfielder and bench bat? That might work.