A Tyler O’Neill extension appears unlikely for St. Louis Cardinals

A Tyler O’Neill extension appears unlikely for St. Louis Cardinals, and it all comes down to roster and financial flexibility.

After a breakout season, Tyler O’Neill established himself as a foundational player for the St. Louis Cardinals. It is why myself, and others, felt that the front office should make an effort to sign him to a long-term contract extension this winter.

It does not appear to be on the Cardinals’ radar, at least not yet, with Katie Woo of The Athletic relaying that the team is unlikely to extend O’Neill or any other of their young outfielders before the 2022 season.

The Cardinals’ reason comes down to roster flexibility. O’Neill is under contract until 2025. Harrison Bader, who is coming off a breakout season, is signed through 2024. Dylan Carlson is only 23 and under team control for the foreseeable future. The common theme? All of them are cheap and controllable, which is what teams covet these days — and it opens the door for them to spend money elsewhere on the roster.

Perhaps that’s on a reliever or two. Maybe it’s another starting pitcher. It could be first or third base depth. Either way, it gives the Cardinals flexibility to spend meaningful dollars on other parts of the roster, and that will only benefit them as they look to win the World Series in Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright’s final seasons in St. Louis.

The Cardinals not extending O’Neill, 26, now is a risk in the fact that if he posts numbers similar to what he did this season (.286/.352/.560 with 34 home runs and 80 RBI), he would become much more expensive to extend. That’s especially true with his agent being Scott Boras, who prefers his players establish their value on the open market, which could make an extension at any point unlikely.

But waiting to extend O’Neill, or any of the other outfielders, is the right move both short- and long-term. With all three signed to cheap, multi-year contracts, it gives the Cardinals roster and financial flexibility that few teams have — and it’s something that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is going to take full advantage of this offseason and in offseasons to come.