Elephant Rumblings: McNeil Addition Solidifies Lineup

SB Nation

Happy Tuesday A’s fans!

We have a new starting second baseman after yesterday’s trade for Jeff McNeil from the New York Mets. The acquisition of the longtime Met finally gives the A’s a quality contributor

at the keystone, something the A’s have lacked for the past couple of seasons. After the weekend trade of Brandon Lowe the options for an upgrade over Zack Gelof and Max Muncy were growing thin but the A’s struck while there was still a viable starting option out there, and they didn’t have to surrender any top prospect capital to get it done (sorry, Yordan Rodriguez).

Now we get to think about how his addition affects the club. McNeil, a former batting champion, is a contact-oriented hitter that could very well slot in atop the lineup on a regular basis especially against right-handed starting pitchers. The A’s open the season in Toronto against the defending AL champions and their entire starting staff is right-handed. McNeil will very likely be the first batter of the season for the Athletics next year. Here’s one example of how the lineup could shake out if the season began today:

That’s a pretty solid lineup right there. Ideally if the A’s were adamant contenders they would kick the tires on an upgrade over Muncy but this lineup has the bones of a top-5 lineup in the American League. When there’s a left-hander on the mound it’s still fair to expect McNeil to occupy a spot fairly high in the batting order. Heck, he may even stick in the leadoff spot save for the rare lefty ace. The nice thing about the addition of McNeil is it adds another left-handed element to the lineup, making it more balanced at least on paper. He’s not an easy out by any means and he’ll set the table and lets the big boys like Kurtz and Rooker bring him home every day of the week. This recipe looks tasty.

McNeil will be on the older side next year at 34 years of age so he’ll instantly be the elder statesman of the clubhouse, and he’s also coming off of Thoracic Outlet Surgery. But he’s still capable with the glove and has experience at other positions other than second base. The longtime Met also has plenty of postseason experience he can share with the younger guys as well, including a trip to the Fall Classic he can regale to his new teammates. And while he had a down couple of years recently, his 2025 campaign was much better than meets the eye:

Adding the versatile McNeil also affords the A’s to be flexible. Current incumbent shortstop Jacob Wilson is a below-average defender at a critical position and is likely to move off the position when top prospect Leo De Vries is ready for his debut. If and when that happens, the most likeliest move would be to slide Wilson over to second base, displacing McNeil. But he’ll still be able to contribute at third base, which remains unsettled for the A’s as of this writing.

And on top of all of that, from everything we’ve read it was starting to feel like McNeil’s time in New York was coming to an end sooner than later. He reportedly had that spat with superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor that coincided with the Mets’ late-season collapse and frankly who would want to continue to be teammates with someone that grabs them by the throat? McNeil won’t have any big personalities that he could clash with on the A’s. In fact, it feels like the A’s are adding McNeil not just for his on-field production, but also to be an example of a hard-working veteran for the youngsters on this up-and-coming squad. Setting the right culture now will have huge reverberations down the line for this team.

We can now cross off another item on the offseason to-do list, and arguably one of the bigger things on that list. Ideally the A’s could add a late-inning arm for the relief unit, and there’s always room for another starter. The lineup and position player group is mostly set but could always add another name to the third base mix. For now though, we got an early Christmas present in Jeff McNeil.

Have a good Tuesday guys!

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