Because of the MLB lockout, meetings between teams and players regarding arbitration were put off until the spring when the lockout was finally lifted.
Some of these negotiations have lasted into the season.
Such is the case for Tyler O’Neill and the St. Louis Cardinals, who could not reach an agreement on O’Neill’s salary for the 2022 season and ultimately ended up having to endure a hearing.
Today, that case has reached its end.
The Cardinals won the case against their star left fielder.
Mark Fiensand of MLB.com tweeted the details of the settlement and what the two sides ultimately came to an agreement on.
The Cardinals won their arbitration case against Tyler O'Neill, per source. O'Neill will earn $3.4M in 2022; he had filed for $4.15M.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 11, 2022
Retained For Cheap
This is good news for the Cardinals, but not so much for O’Neill.
O’Neill put up some MVP-caliber numbers last season and played a key role in the Cardinals’ 17-game win streak.
He’s being retained well below his value.
And it’s not like he asked for that much.
The Cardinals will be paying him $3.4 million and all he wanted was $4.15 million
It’s just yet another example of teams being cheap with some of their star players.
Players have earned their money and it’s not fair to O’Neill to not get what he asked for, especially when his request wasn’t for that much more than what they’re going to give him.
O’Neill deserves better than that and the vast majority of the Cardinals fanbase would agree.
Though O’Neill is off to a bad start in 2022, he still has a very bright future ahead of him and is going to be a key piece for the Cards moving forward as they inch closer to the end of the Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Albert Pujols era.
NEXT: Cardinals Forced To Demote A Former All-Star