McNeil thrilled for opportunity to boost A's young lineup

Jeff McNeil was approaching the 14th hole of his golf outing at TPC Monterey on Monday morning when he checked his phone and saw a barrage of missed calls and text messages from Mets general manager David Stearns and his agent.

“I had a text from Stearns going, ‘Hey, please give me call,’” McNeil recalled. “I was like, ‘I one hundred percent just got traded.’ I knew it was a possibility. I took that phone call. It was a quick phone call. I thanked him for everything and he thanked me for everything. … Definitely a crazy day.”

McNeil’s world was turned upside down. He received the news that the Mets -- the club that drafted him in 2013 and only team he’d ever played for in his eight big league seasons -- were trading him to the Athletics in exchange for Minor League right-hander Yordan Rodriguez.

The round of golf went on for McNeil. He finished by shooting a very respectable score of 73, then went home to further digest the trade. About 24 hours later, McNeil was already envisioning himself contributing to a young A’s team on the rise and a lineup with no shortage of quality hitters such as American League Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler.

“It’s a super fun team to watch,” McNeil said Tuesday over a Zoom call with reporters. “I watched quite a bit of their games [from] New York. … Just a super fun, young team. They have a great young core. I just want to do my part to help them out. I’m super excited to be a part of it. I think we’re going to have a good squad.”

McNeil represents a sizable upgrade for the A’s, whose several second basemen cycled in throughout the season combined for -1.6 wins above replacement (per FanGraphs) in 2025. Even in what was somewhat of a down year for McNeil, who hit .243 with a .746 OPS, 12 home runs and 54 RBIs in 122 games, he was still a 2.1 fWAR player for the Mets.

Beyond the standard statistics, McNeil also believes he had a better year based on some underlying numbers, which he said were similar to the year he won the batting title in 2022 with New York.

“I like to look at the numbers of the analytics, and it was pretty comparable to when I won a batting title,” said McNeil. “I had an extremely low [BABIP] this year. I ran into a lot of bad luck, but I hit the ball really hard and felt like my swing was exactly where I wanted it.”

McNeil also dealt with a shoulder issue that he felt was hindering him at the plate at times last season, particularly down the stretch. Earlier this offseason, he underwent a “minor” procedure for what was diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome.

“It hurt to throw and it hurt to swing a little bit,” McNeil said. “I got that taken care of. No problems now. No limitations. Back to a hundred percent. It was pretty minor, but it was just best to take care of it and come back this year healthy. Body feels good. I’ll have no restrictions or anything like that in Spring Training.”

While the A’s plan to fully utilize McNeil’s versatility with some time at first base and all three outfield spots, he is expected to enter spring as the club’s starting second baseman, forming a double-play duo alongside Wilson, who finished runner-up to Kurtz in Rookie of the Year voting.

McNeil has long had a reputation of being a pest for opposing pitchers with impressive contact skills. He and Wilson share similar elite contact skills -- the two combined to strike out just 94 times in 985 plate appearances last season -- which is why he admired watching the rookie from afar as he broke out as a budding star who finished trailing only Aaron Judge and tied for the second-highest batting average (.311) in the Majors.

Together, McNeil and Wilson might just form the peskiest 1-2 punch in all of baseball.

“I feel like our middle infield this year is probably going to strike out the least amount in the league with Wilson,” McNeil said. “He’s a free swinger. I love watching that guy hit. He’s so much fun. We’re both free swingers and like to put the ball in play quick and make things happen. … I can’t wait to play with him.”