Will Orioles try to trade Tyler O’Neill? | MAILBAG

Question: The Orioles cannot have three outfielders on their team that strike out over 150 times. Do you think the signals that they will try to trade Tyler O’Neill? From: Ricky Templeton

Answer: Ricky, I think the Orioles would like to see Tyler O’Neill play enough to strike out over 150 times. In 2024, O’Neill struck out 159 times but hit 31 homers and had an .847 OPS, and he was attractive enough to sign.

Taylor Ward struck out 175 times this past season, and Colton Cowser, who struck out 172 times in 2024, fanned 128 times in 92 games in 2025.

You’re correct that they’d like to see more contact, and I’m not sure that that Cowser, O’Neill, Ward and Dylan Beavers are going to be the four outfielders they depend on next season. There could be more moves.

Michael Riggin submitted a question earlier this week before the Ward acquisition about whether the Orioles could get out of the O’Neill contract.

I don’t think there’s a great demand for O’Neill. He played only 54 games last year and is owed $33 million over the next two seasons.

For the moment, the Orioles don’t really have a surplus of outfielders. Besides those four, they also have Leody Taveras,  Jeremiah Jackson and Reed Trimble, who was just put on the 40-man roster.

If there was a surplus, they could attempt to trade O’Neill, but they would have to pay a huge part of his salary to make any deal work.

I don’t see that happening, and I don’t see them releasing him. I think they’re hoping he plays well enough and often enough to help the team or make himself into a trade chip, where they wouldn’t have to pay an outrageous sum to move him.

Question: What’s your opinion on promoting Sig Mejdal to be our new GM? From: Steve SanMillan

Answer: Steve, Mike Elias has recently said it doesn’t seem likely that the team will hire a general manager this offseason. I think Sig is happy in his current position, and if he and Elias thought that was a good match, it probably would have been done already.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.