Adding players in the summer is starting early for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The offseason is here, and Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings are scheduled to start on Monday. With a few stars expected to switch teams, the offseason is predicted to be intriguing. There should be activity in the trading market as well.
The Cardinals have other tasks to complete despite being connected to elite free agent starting pitchers. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Riley O’Brien was reportedly acquired by St. Louis in a deal with the Seattle Mariners to increase organizational depth, giving the team an early start on Monday.
“Cardinals have acquired (right-handed pitcher) Riley O’Brien in a trade with (the Mariners),” Goold stated. The 28-year reliever for the Mariners’ Class AAA team with 86 strikeouts and a 2.29 ERA in 55 innings, making him a (Pacific Coast League) All-Star. He was scheduled to be a free agent in the lower leagues.”
The Tampa Bay Rays selected 28-year-old O’Brien in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft. In his brief professional career, O’Brien has now been traded three times. In 2020, Tampa Bay traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. In 2022, O’Brien was traded by Cincinnati to the Mariners; he is currently a part of the Cardinals organization.
The right-hander appeared in two major league games in 2022, one with the Mariners and the other with the Reds, in 2021. He pitched with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers for the whole 2023 season, showing promise with a 2.29 ERA in 51 appearances. Though his role in the Cardinals system is still unknown, he at least adds depth and big-league potential.
The Cardinals will have a busy offseason ahead of them, starting now.
