The St. Louis Cardinals have bolstered their bullpen by sending outfielder Tyler O'Neill (28) to the Boston Red Sox. Korean-born Tommy Edmon, 28, who won a Gold Glove as a second baseman two years ago, will fold his infield multiples and be locked into center field next year.

St. Louis sent O'Neill to Boston on Monday in a two-for-two trade that included pitcher Nick Robertson, 25, and minor league pitcher Victor Santos, 23.

O'Neill, who spent all six seasons with the Reds from his major league debut in 2018 through this year, batted .244/.363 with 78 homers, 217 RBIs and a .776 OPS in 477 career games. He showed off his power with a 34-homer explosion in 2021, and his defense was recognized with the National League (NL) Gold Glove for outfielders for the second straight season in 2020 and 2021.

Since then, however, he has been plagued by frequent injuries to his shoulder, hamstring, back, and foot, limiting him to 96 games last year and 72 games this year. His numbers this year have also been disappointing, batting just 23-for-55 with nine homers, 21 RBIs, and a .715 OPS. With top prospect Jordan Walker having a successful rookie season in the outfield, and Ras Nurba continuing to develop, O'Neill's spot in the lineup narrowed.

With one year of free agency remaining, O'Neill eventually hit the trade market. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak announced at the Winter Meetings earlier this week that the Reds will rebuild next year's outfield around Nuba, Edmon, and Walker, making O'Neill a trade chip.

The interests aligned with Boston, which traded star right fielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees. St. Louis, which has been busy bolstering its bullpen this offseason with the addition of veteran starters Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, added two bullpen arms in Robertson and Santos, who made his big league debut this year. 카지노사이트777

The Reds were also able to trade O'Neill for Korean-American utility player Edman. Edmon has seen time at second base and center field after late-round prospect Mei-Shin Wynn showed promise at first base. With all-weather utility Brandon Donovan likely to be the starting second baseman next year, Edmon is now locked into center field. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol nailed down his starting center fielder for next year at the Winter Meetings.

In his five years with the Cardinals, from his major league debut in 2019 to this year, Edmon has been a versatile defender, playing second base (307 games), shortstop (145 games), third base (94 games), right field (76 games), center field (44 games), and left field (nine games). He was a finalist for the NL Gold Glove Utility Award this year, but was edged out by Ha-Sung Kim (San Diego Padres). But he's also shown defensive stability in the outfield, playing 42 games in center field this year, and will take on a new challenge as a full-time center fielder next year. Edmon, who won the NL Gold Glove at second base in 2021, hopes his defense will translate to the outfield. "I think he can win a Gold Glove in center field," Marmol said at the Winter Meetings. He'll also improve his batting average at the position. This year, Edmon's overall batting numbers were down from the previous year, as he batted .248 (119-for-479) with 13 home runs, 47 RBIs, and a .705 OPS in 137 games.