When baseball star Jeff McNeil set out for an offseason round of golf at TPC Monterey in late December, he was a second baseman for the New York Mets.
Walking off the course a few hours later, his head was – in his own words – ‘spinning’. On the 14th hole, he had been traded without any prior warning, and his 13 years in the Mets organization was over, just like that.
It is a brutal quirk of being a top-level sportsperson in America. In what other industry could you be sent from New York to Sacramento, one coast to another, at the drop of a hat? No discussion, no part in the decision, just pack your bags and go.
‘It was kind of like, “woah, what just happened?”‘ McNeil explains to the Daily Mail. ‘I got in the cart and looked at my phone… missed call from my agent, missed call from our GM [David Stearns], a text from our GM, a text from my agent, all in the last 10 minutes.
‘I didn’t know my playing partners, it was a little team event tournament… and I just go, “woah, hold on guys, I just got traded.”
‘So I call our GM back, he says “you’ve just been traded to the A’s. Wish you the best of luck and thank you.” I hang up the phone… wow, I just got traded.’
Jeff McNeil was traded from the Mets to the A’s in a brutal phone call from David Stearns
He has spent the last 13 years – and the entirety of his MLB career to this point – in New York
Thirteen years of service, two MLB All-Star appearances, the batting champion of the league in 2022… and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it phone conversation to say goodbye.
So how does one react to a bombshell of that magnitude slap bang in the middle of a relaxed round of golf?
‘Double bogeyed that hole… my head was spinning a bit,’ McNeil admits in our conversation at the HGV Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida.
‘Three-putted the next hole, I’m like, “sorry boys, I’ll figure this out.” Yeah, I got derailed. I remember standing over every shot like, “you just got traded”.’
With Christmas and the New Year out of the way, McNeil – now 33 – has overcome the shock of that phone call and is ready to start looking ahead to his new life in California with the A’s.
It was a whirlwind winter of setting up a new base, helped mainly by his wife Tatiana, and involving a cheeky text from a now-former teammate on the Mets.
The winter saw McNeil, his wife and his two children up sticks to the other side of the country
The two-time All-Star was on the golf course in Monterey when he got the life-changing call
‘We have a house in New York that we bought in [20]22, so it’s been a little bit difficult,’ he explains. ‘My wife flew out there, packed the house up, kind of making my life easier, which is great.
‘We’re renting the house to a teammate. I know how hard the living situation is in the big leagues, when you’ve got to find a place.
‘When I got traded, a couple of hours later my wife actually gets a text. He goes, “hey, is this too soon? Can I, uh, live in your house?” [She replied] “Yeah, no problem… we’ll figure it out.” So we’ve got someone living there.’
For Jeff, Tatiana and their two children, Lucas and Serena, Sacramento is now their temporary home, after the Athletics’ bitter divorce from Oakland last year.
He joins as one of the veterans of the team, and is already ingratiated into the roster, with Sports Illustrated recently describing his arrival as the ‘best move the A’s made this offseason’.
He excelled with the Mets and even found one of his closest friends – Pete Alonso – at the team
Speaking in late January, McNeil opened up about his excitement at joining a new group, and the opportunity to revitalize his career in a different environment for the first time in over a decade.
‘I’m going to go a little earlier, meet everyone, talk to a few guys, talk to [manager Mark] Kotsay and the players,’ he said. ‘It’s gonna be a fun year, a lot of learning for me… new organization, new teammates. I’m not great with names!
‘But I think our team is really young, and really exciting as well. I’m not the type of guy to go into a new clubhouse and try and take it over, that’s not who I am. I’m a pretty quiet guy.
‘But if one of the young guys needs something or just wants to ask, you know, I’m always there… I wanna do everything I can to help them. If they have questions, I’m gonna help and be there for them. At the same time, I think I’m going to learn from them.
‘They’re a bunch of young players just starting their career out, and it’s great to see how young and hungry they are, and ready to get going… I feel like that’s gonna be really good for me. I’m excited to be around the new team and be around young players.’
Last season was not without its difficulties for McNeil, who dealt with injury issues at the start of the year and underwent a minor procedure at the end of it, for thoracic outlet syndrome.
Baseball star McNeil is pictured chatting with golf legend Tiger Woods at TGL last month
Happily, the health concerns now seem to be behind him and this is a man revitalized heading into the new season.
‘When I got diagnosed last year, it was a little bit scary,’ he admits. ‘The TOS, there’s so many different levels of it… really bad and there’s very minor. Mine was very minor.
‘It was a pretty easy cleanup. Nothing too crazy. I took about six weeks off, did all the physical therapy, felt extremely good, and I should have no restrictions.’
And that has proven to be the case in Spring Training. Heading into the season, McNeil’s batting average is higher than his 2024 and 2025 seasons, and he seems ready to fire on all cylinders for his new team.
Only time will tell if the Mets will regret making that life-altering phone call on the 14th hole.
