The Orioles have shown a willingness to listen to trade offers on center fielder Cedric Mullins, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). The 27-year-old is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he was MLB’s only 30-homer, 30-stolen base player.
Mullins entered the season as an unestablished player, with just a .225/.290/.342 line across 418 plate appearances between 2018-20. He’d been regarded as a solid but not elite prospect, and it wasn’t clear entering 2021 that Mullins projected as a long-term regular, either in Baltimore or anyone else. Perhaps no one around the league has raised their stock more over the past eight months, though, as Mullins broke through with an All-Star showing that garnered him some down ballot MVP support.
The North Carolina native played in 159 games and tallied 675 plate appearances, mashing at a .291/.360/.518 clip. That’s 36 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+, and Mullins added further value on the basepaths. In addition to his Silver Slugger winning offense, he was credited with ten Outs Above Average by Statcast in nearly 1300 innings in center field. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t as bullish on his outfield work, but it’s likely most clubs around the league will view Mullins as an average or better gloveman in center.
There’s no question he’ll be in high demand after that breakout campaign, although that doesn’t guarantee he’ll wind up on the move. There’s a difference between the O’s being willing to hear out offers on Mullins versus actively attempting to move him, and there’s no indication they’re doing the latter. Heyman suggests Baltimore has placed an “extremely high” asking price in talks, no surprise since there’s no pressing incentive for the Orioles to give the Campbell University product up.
Mullins only has between two and three years of major league service time. Barring changes to the service structure in the next collective bargaining agreement, he’ll remain under club control through the end of the 2025 season. Mullins hasn’t even yet qualified for arbitration, so he’ll play next season on a salary just above the league minimum. As with starter John Means — on whom the O’s are also reportedly fielding offers — general manager Mike Elias and his staff can set a high asking price and hold onto the player if no other clubs are willing to meet it. The ask on Mullins figures to be even a fair bit loftier than that on Means, considering that Mullins would seem to have less injury risk and comes with an additional year of contractual control.
Broadly speaking, a willingness to discuss Mullins in trade shouldn’t seem out of the ordinary. Very few players around the league would be absolutely untouchable in trade talks, since front offices have a responsibility to consider all avenues through which they can improve their club. That’s particularly true in the case of a rebuilding organization like the Orioles that stands little chance of competing in 2022 and could have its work cut for out it to contend for a playoff spot in 2023.
That said, the Orioles surely expect to contend before Mullins reaches free agency in 2025-26. Even coming out of a massive rebuild, they’ll need some core players to anchor their next competitive club. Teams understandably covet controllable, star position players in particular. That’ll lead to plenty of strong offers, but it also reduces the Orioles’ urgency to pull the trigger on any deal, since Mullins looks to be precisely the kind of player around whom a franchise can build.
The Giants need outfielders.
I’ve been hoping for the Giants to trade for Mullins since before the season ended. He’s exactly what they need. And now that Oracle isn’t the home run killer it used to be, his power wouldn’t suffer too much. Maybe he becomes more of a doubles guy, but he’d still provide plenty of pop and all-around playmaking from the leadoff spot.
They would probably want at least one of Bart, Ramos, and Luciano. And then they’d want more.
I’d love Mullins in SF. But not sure if want to ditch any of these guys.
There is a world of difference between Ramos/Bart & Marco Luciano.
The Giants would easily move the first two for Mullins. No chance they move Luciano for him.
I agree, Luciano is untouchable.
And it would certainly take substantially more than just Luciano. A 30-30 CFer with 4 years control is worth far more than a single top prospect.
The Orioles will NEVER win another World Series with King Peter still in the front office! He has has ruined this franchise and turned it into a laughing stock! See below.
Peter isn’t in the front office. His sons have taken over control of the team.
Angelos spent money and wanted to win, as opposed to previous owner, Eli Jacobs.
What does Baltimore want for Mullins and Means? Vientos,Lee Smith and Peterson or megill ?
I’m sure this doesn’t get it done
The entire top thirty
That would be moronic for Baltimore. That trade includes like 3 players they don’t need at all in exchange for their two best players. They are trying to get better, not worse.
I too can say random names and hope everyone else knows who the heck they even play for
I call you out on this… please do so.
“I’m on a baseball site making fun of people who know more about baseball then me.” – bigdaddyt
Sorry I don’t know 3 random middle od the road prospects from every organization
Since the article suggests they are at least years out from contending for a spot the Orioles may be looking at you beget prospects in prefer to keep that window open a bit longer? I would imagine any trade would be non-ready MLB players and more AA at this point. I would love for the Guardians to go and get him- that have the young talent do do so but the Guardians ate very stubborn when it comes to trades.
Lee Smith isn’t with the Nets, he’s retired.
Funny calling someone out on a comma and then you make an error in that call out. Kudos.
It was a joke, and yes, autocorrect burned me.
Of course, it is true that he’s not with the Nets…
Why can I reply to this post from you, but not your “Lee Smith” post?
Pretty ridiculous that this team is STILL willing to make moves that take the team backwards. Just dumb.
Maybe they don’t think he is that good
That would be ridiculous. He’s clearly their best player. 5.7 bWAR, that’s great.
Sometimes you sell high.
This team isn’t going to be competitive for a minimum of 3 years. We seen teams like the Cubs, Astros and Braves win the world series after committing to a rebuild. And if you can get a superstar package for a guy with 1 great year and a bunch of mediocre years then you make the trade. But it depends on how much you can get.
Yea I get selling high. It’s just absurd that Baltimore would get rid of their best player as young as he is. Bad for baseball to have teams going backwards for years. But, true, if their analytics team is telling them “sell now” then maybe it makes sense. I find it hard to believe though.
If the Orioles sell high on Means and Mullins they will add multiple players that can help them when they are ready to compete for the playoffs. It would be stupid not to listen. They are going to finish last with both of those guys. It would be good for the Orioles not bad. Also why would it be bad for Baseball for the Orioles to try to be competitive long term? Your multiple comments are very misguided.
It’s bad for baseball if “being competitive for the long term” inherently means going backwards and being terrible for five plus years. Shouldn’t be that way. Mullins and Means should be part of the rebuild. They’re not vets on the backend of contracts. Accepting going backwards, being worse, shouldn’t be so casual. Teams shouldn’t so easily concede being terrible, no matter what plan they use as an excuse.
Obviously you don’t understand how rebuilds work. They play in by far the best division in Baseball. There is literally nothing they can do this offseason to not finish in last place next year. You are acting like they would compete for the playoffs if they held on to them. They held on to Manny and Britton a year too long and that is one of the big reasons they are in the middle of this long term rebuild. Selling high on Means and Mullins would most likely net them 5 guys who could be bid contributors when the team is ready to compete. This is not a new concept. Was it “bad for baseball” when the Cubs ended their century long drought on a World Series title using this model? Has it been “bad” for the Astros who have won 3 pennants in 5 years? I honestly don’t think they will trade both. But they would be stupid not to listen. One thing is for sure. With your mindset I’m glad you are just commenting on the internet and not actually running the Orioles.
Could not said it any better. I also believe the Orioles are not trading either one of these guys but it would be unwise not to listen.
Yes, I understand how folks typically THINK rebuilds SHOULD work. My criticism is that this is too much, too long, too unnecessary and just dumb. I don’t think that you need to lose so much in order to win. Does that clarify things for you? Also, rebuilds usually include trading veterans, not young guys in their prime. Try to keep up.
One could argue it’s bad for baseball that the Astros have made the WS 3 times, albeit for a completely different reason. But I agree with your message.
If Mullins is 80% the player he showed as this past season, you have to wonder if the return for him would be any worse after, say, 2023, than it would be right now, after 2021.
So I guess the Rays are just screwed after trading Snell right? Since trading young guys in their prime has been categorized as always a horrible idea to you? Try to keep up.
You sell high, not low. If you don’t understand that, I’d recommend you have someone handling your investments for you.
For sure that wouldn’t be you. Cliches don’t make for a sound investment strategy and they sure don’t make for good baseball.
Don’t trade mullins
Sounds like a good option for the Braves.
It’s almost like Baltimore is just a AAA team
Sure, why bother to build around a decent player who went 30/30 and almost .300?
Because they are years away from contending. It would be a waste if they weren’t at least exploiting ways to make them selves better as they build towards their competitive window. And as the article reads it is exploration- they need something to blow them away to make the deal a reality.
You don’t have to sell everybody during a rebuild. Braves held on to Freeman and built around him. He’s a fan favorite and a Braves legend for sticking with the team through thick and thin. Not every rebuild has to be scorched earth. Give the fans in Baltimore a reason to go to the ballpark and someone to cheer for.
But trading him makes them even farther from contending. You have to get out of the cycle at some point. Trading away the controlable, cheap, young players is the opposite of rebuilding. Add a few low contract vets who may have value at the deadline is how you add to the prospects. You didn’t see Boston trading Devers, or Boegarts when they were rebuilding. Or the Yankees trading Judge to add more prospects. Tampa Bay signed Franco.(even when they win, they are always rebuilding)
Not necessarily, they have a lot of outfield prospects on the farm and not a lot of highly regarded infield talent. If they are expecting to be competitive after 2 more seasons, which is what I am thinking, then it’s possible that I’d they are blown away with an offer, trading him for those IF prospects could set them up for that window.
Years away what is this a 7 or 8 year rebuild.. my god expansion teams are built quicker then that., did the above mentioned astros cubs or braves trade away any of the young controlled players after 3 or 4 years into this. god i hate saying this REBUILD!!! sooner or later you have to actually start building around the major league team. even though that may anger the fans of norfolk bowie and aberdean,,
Fish should be all over him. He’s the type of hitter they need to add to have a successful offseason.
I came here to say this. Couldn’t be a better fit.
Everyone should be all over him if the O’s are dumb enough to trade him
@Cosmo, read the article dude. While I agree with a few of your points above about keeping him and building around him, etc. the article says more than once that the Os asking price is super high. Read the 2nd to last paragraph above. “Willing to listen” doesn’t mean they’re actively shopping him.
Your right. I’m just commenting on speculation though, don’t mean to be calling the O’s stupid. But yea, certainly just rumors and maybes… who knows what a potential deal could look like. Didn’t mean to be commenting as if anything was certain.
What they would ask for in return would scare me. It would take at least Meyer and Cabrera or a mix of at least 2-3 of the young very high upside arms.
In a perfect world I would love this guy but he has only done it for one season so I’m quite weary on giving up so much for him.
Phillies: Our farm system is your farm system.
I hate to say it but your farm system is underwhelming oh wait no I don’t lol
Understatement of the last decade. But still they’ve managed to fool other teams into taking their prospects for stud players before this regime. Just need to work that magic again. Is Ed Wade still a GM somewhere?
You could restock your entire farm for Harper.
The Phils farm is improving under DD. No sense in giving up someone like Stott or Abel. Marte made sense but not for a 4 year deal. Now it looks like Mickey may get the keys to Center.
I can’t imagine anyone would pay the price the Orioles would reasonably request to get him. This seems like that star player that is going to be mentioned (Lindor for a few years) frequently on the market for a while that simply doesn’t move.
Kiermaier, Edwards, and Jones
Nope. Kiermaier is illogical for them, plus I’m sure they would want more than just two top 10 prospects from a division rival. Maybe those two, Taj Bradley, and another decent prospect.
Sure, I like it but Neander still won’t do it
Just remember it’s the rays they pulled off glasnow, meadows, and Shane bad for archer
That was also a trade with a team in the NL Central, not their own division
The Orioles aren’t in the AL East. They’re in a deep dark basement nearly 40 games below it.
Of course they will listen. Why is that news?
I would be very cautious of trading the farm after he had one good year.
All of this sounds like the noises that people were making about the Pirates trading Bryan Reynolds. Neither is being traded.
I heard the Mets need some outfielders and haven’t made moves in a while…
Was actually thinking about this the other day.. If Mullins were to become available being how far the Orioles are from truly competing. I’d give the farm for Mullins… I doubt the Orioles would trade him to the Jays.. but man, I think I’d give them whoever they want from the farm. Gurriel, Biggio, Moreno, and Groshans, call me crazy but maybe even throw in a pitcher or two. Mullins is a fantastic player. One of the best players in the league imo.
Mullins is great. Shame that it’s acceptable for a team like Baltimore to be allowed to tank like this though. Not sure how you’d prevent it, but still, a shame.
Exactly. Incredible they would consider – be allowed to consider trading their best player, in his prime, with years of team control, after completely tanking.
I still stand by the penalties for teams that do this rather than the CBT increases. I think this type of operation hurts MLB much more.
I disagree. I feel as if what the Orioles are doing is smart. They’re so far from competing against the better teams in the East, I can’t imagine what they’d have to do to get there. They would probably have to sign Scherzer, Ray, Gray, Seager and Bryant- and if that was even feasible, imagine that bill.
Is winning 72 games really any better than winning 52? As a fan, rebuilding doesn’t bother me because I find more excitement in watching the accumulation of prospects and their growth than I do in watching a mediocre team steal a few extra wins from good clubs.
I feel the same. I really enjoy turning my attention to the farm while the MLB team sucks and doing research on all the prospects and following their progress. Not to mention getting into the draft each year as well.
Then when a few make their debuts in the show it gives me a reason to watch. Lowther, Baumann and Wells were pretty disappointing this year, here’s hoping for more Mountcastle like results with the next wave.
Yes, winning 72 games is better than winning 52. Very much. And it shouldn’t impede future success to go to.
The Orioles are one of the biggest jokes in professional sports. At least make it look like you’re attempting to win games.
Apparently they don’t even have to pretend they are attempting to win. Fans here are justifying this nonsense.
If you want teams to stop tanking rework the draft system. Top team to not make the playoffs gets number one pick and down from there. Not one team in the league tanking the last week of the season when the playoffs are on the line. Can’t tell me it hurts the bottom end teams when the draft is a complete crapshoot anyways…
The Orioles need to keep Mullins, Means and Mancini. I understand the rebuild, but they still need a core to build around. If they trade the core pieces, they can’t move forward.
Exactly.
I don’t see where Mancini fits in long term. Mountcastle is going to be your regular 1B, they already said they’re going to have Rutschman play 1B somewhat regularly so they don’t burn him out at catcher, when he’s at 1B, Mountcastle will probably be your DH. Mancini isn’t great in the OF and there are lots of OF in the system already. Do you just carry him as a DH? I’m not sure it’s worth that. I love him and would love to see him stay an Oriole for his whole career, I just don’t see how they can hold on to him.
Nobody knew who Mullins was this time last year and he looked more like a good player than a star as the season went on. Also factor in that every other team in the AL East won 90+ games last year so the Orioles won’t be competitive for at least a couple more years. They would be smart to sell high on him if a team is willing to give them a haul.
We knew in Milwaukee.
Nobody in Milwaukee knew Mullins would post a career year wit premium power, BA and OBA.
The Baltimore’s Oriole franchise should be moved to Charlotte. Someone from the Charlotte area should make an offer too good to refuse to buy the team. The Charlotte Orioles could draw 2 million or more a season, easily.
The Orioles will never NEVER be moved . Make an offer for the Rays …
“The Baltimore’s Oriole franchise` huh? Pretty much exposes your ignorance. Baltimore drew over 2 MM in 2017.
MLB is looking to expand, not allow franchises to move. 75% of owners would have to agree and that is not going to happen.
I have a problem with Baltimore hitters. they play in such a homerun friendly ballpark that thier numbers are obscured. 30 hrs in Camden = 15 hrs in Kaufman stadium. likewise Means numbers would be outstanding at the K. these players playing in these small ballparks have inflated numbers. So buyer beware.
Do you understand teams only play 50% of games at home?
Plus 30 in OPACY = 15 in Kaufman is not a reflection of ballpark effects.
Dipoto on line 1
The east is stacked, and it’s always going to be competitive. At some point they’ve gotta go ahead with their guys and he and Mancini along with their youngsters are a group they should be pushing ahead with not tearing apart.
Amen
Mancini is only valuable to the Orioles as a feel good story at this stage of his career when figuring production/salary.
Orioles are always scared to spend money
I bet Chris Davis will disagree with your comment.
Better to remain silent and be thought the fool…
Let’s go Giants!! What are we waiting for?!?!?! Mets are going after Gausman next. Go for Stro and either Mullins or Castellanos — quickly!! Resign Gausy!
Orioles fans should riot. This ownership isn’t ever going to compete. East version of the A’s.
Uhhh the A’s have been very competitive
Looking forward to the absurd trade proposals where a teams fan proposes a deal where Baltimore gets more expensive players with less control for their star , lol
I honestly think he stinks and last year was an exception to the norm. Sell high on him while you can.
If I’m wrong, so what. I’m not paid to make the decisions. Hence why I’m on a toilet posting this comment at 1:30 in the morning
I disagree but that’s pretty legit. There have been players known to peak young and disappoint thereafter.
Bravesfan: Although I understand your perspective on him, his offensive prowess developed from concentrating on his strong-side hitting (left), in lieu of switch-hitting, which he had done in all the prior seasons.
I often wondered why mediocre-to-poor switch-hitters don’t do this more often to take advantage of their strong side. In many cases, it can be something as simple as how he sees the ball with his dominant eye, and staying LH complements that.
Until he proves otherwise I think we must assume his hitting is a direct result of his focus-based approach to one-side hitting, and it worked.
There’s not much better than some good MLBTR on the toilet early in the morning.
Hope he washes his hands.
Stupid move to trade him.. they should be building around him, not moving him
There is absolutely nothing wrong with exploring all your options for the Orioles at this point. The farm is already filled with outfield talent and if a team is willing to pay up for Cedric Mullins and it helps with the endgame for this rebuild, then why not?
I think the problem most people have is that in order to rebuild, you must inherently build. If they continually tear down to nothing there’s no inherent team building within the rebuild structure. In essence, it’s much more a restock than a rebuild.
As an O’s fan the thought of trading Mullins at this point is initially shocking. But when you consider that before the end of the 2023 season you would have Mullins, Hays, Kyle Stowers, Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser, Zach Watson & others ready to play big league ball, where do you put them all?
If Mullins could net 3 strong starting pitching prospects already with experience at A+ or higher, I would consider it. The Braves make a lot of sense in that regard as well.
Been watching Mullins play for 4 years.
He’s one of the best CF’s in MLB. Prototype fast defensive player and lead-off man. Now exclusively a LH batter (used to switch-hit), better against RH pitchers but still fine against LH ones. Batting LH he has a step advantage to 1B for leg hits.
Get him to a contending team and fans around America will love watching this man play.
Yea, I’m not gonna pretend I’ve crunched number after number over this but this guy looks like a star to me
I’d like to see the White Sox get this guy for RF. Maybe send Sheets, Crochet and an A ball guy.
I also was thinking about making Crochet a centerpeice along with Gavin Sheets [due to his dad Larry’s connection to BALT]. But the Sox would also likely need to add Colson Montgomery [#1 ]or Wes Kath [#4], and a guy like Jake Burger [#3] or Yoelqui Cespedes [#2]., depending on if BALT wants more major league ready guys.
Mullins may not have numbers like 2021 each year. But his skillset would greatly compliment the White Sox young core.
I upvoted you, but the word is spelled `complement.` It means to complete, not to praise.
With so many years of control left, why wouldn’t they build around him? At some point, prospects are not worth anything if you don’t keep the ones who succeed.
It seems rather random and strange that some teams are “allowed” and even encouraged to trade a top flight player who could get them substantial return while other teams are told to build around said player, that they would be crazy and stupid to trade the player. Maybe there should be a site called MLB Keep Rumors where articles talk only about possible contract extensions.
Why bother writing this article? It means nothing.
I think the site is called “MLBTradeRumors”
I could be way off base though…
I’d absolutely trade him now and try to get something while they still can. He had a great season in which no one can take that away from him but this time last year he was a non-tender candidate. Obviously we don’t have the luxury of knowing what he will do this season but I would look at moving him for some pitching to build with. All there studs are in A+/AA and coming by 23. They can slide Hays into CF for now and wait for Adley, Grayson, DL, Westberg, and Gunner. They need to keep adding to that core and make a Free Agent signing or 2 next offseason.
Mets just need to go on make that blockbuster for Means AND Mullins…Mullins in CF, Marte and Nimmo in the corners
Mets *might* have the farm system to get one of them, but they don’t have the prospects to get both.
How is ‘willing to listen’ news of any kind? This is an odd thing for you all to broadcast.
Also newsworthy- I’m willing to entertain the idea of a romantic weekend in the Bahamas with Kate Upton.
It is a Trade Rumors site. You want an article about baking?
“Orioles willing to listen on display cases and fixtures….”
Phillies? Apparently they are going after a “big fish” after losing out on Marte.
It’s fun to speculate on where Mullins and Means could go but it’s just fantasy. Neither one of these players are going anywhere.
Therre’s some legit questions about if Cedrick the Entertainer can repeat, but I doubt he falls off a cliff, performance wise; he’s very athletic, and really studies hitting. About the only negative is a “meh” type arm, but the range is pretty good; think Bernie Williams, if he keeps it up.
Of course you don’t rebuild by trading young controllable players, but the O’s really don’t want to rebuild. They’re just looking to keep the payroll low so they pay off their obscene deferral contracts and settle the MASN mess, which could cost them in excess of 100M. Being competitive is the furthest thing from their mind.
They’ve pretty much killed the goose; a team that drew 2.5M to a still-gorgeous ball park is down to Tropicana Feild level. Despite great stories like Mullins and Mancini, nobody pays attention to them anymore. Apparently the Angelos clan doesn’t want to sell until papa dies, for tax purposes, but that really could be too late. Relocation looks to be as likely as moving the Rays and A’s, minus the reality that they pay almost no rent for the OPACY.
Good opportunity for a well-healed owner; great park, dedicated fan base. A shame to see it go to waste.
Mullins arm is terrible but is speed and range are excellent.
btw, the word is spelled, `well-heeled,` meaning wealthy. The Angelos brothers fit that description.
Trade Mullins and means to the royals for asa Lacey nick pratto Jackson kowar and kyle isbel 4 top 100ish guys
Royals would never do that deal. Orioles would do it in a heartbeat
To the Yankees for Clint Frazier… ohh wait
He’s not a North Carolina native.
Source: I’m from Georgia and he hit a bomb off of me in high school
He was born in Greensboro, NC
Weak.
Funny how this happens after the Marte signing… it’s almost like they know the market for cf’s has gone up substantially
The cubs could use more solid left hand hitters, currently looking at an all right hand hitting infield. Would Baltimore consider a trade for Madrigal, Velazquez and a solid pitching prospect or would it take more?
If Cubs are trading with the Orioles it should be for Rutschman! Cubs don’t need any players in their prime right now they are trying to reload and won’t be competitive. They will be selling Contreras and Hendricks this year along with anyone else they can get a positive return for.
Mullins is only 27 and just starting to enter his prime. Management says this is going to be a fairly quick turnaround but if the cubs don’t spend some of the $112 mil in cap space or make some intelligent trades, I won’t be watching this year.
Not sure about that quick turnaround. They basically have a minor league team for the mlb roster. Yes they have a few guys but not a competitive team. They will shed more players this year for prospects. Last rebuild was 6 seasons of losing. So quick turnaround be maybe 3 years if we are lucky. All the young players they got from Padres won’t be ready anytime soon. Pretty much screwed…2024 they lose heyward contract that’s when I would guess they actually start going after free agents that make a difference.
Like every team, I’d love to see Mullins come to St. Louis. The Cardinals need another left-handed bat, a real leadoff hitter, and Bader isn’t that great against righties.
Mullins would solve a lot problems for most teams, but the cost should be outrageous.
Marte to the Phillies should have been a no-brainer. Now DD is left still looking for CF. Wonder if he will empty the farm for Mullins
With Marte off the table, the price just went up. Curious to see how big the actual haul is.
The Orioles are back baby!
I truly believe that if they would just move the Orioles out of the AL east than nobody would even be talking about a long rebuild.Every is simply looking at the fact that there in the division they are in and automatically assume they are going to be basement dwellers for years to come.Free the birds to another division and watch how fast the turn around is.
If the Orioles are dealing Means and Mullins then might as well move Mancini and Santander as well. The Orioles haven’t competed in a long time. They are going to have to get some serious prospect talent and it has to hit or what is left of the fan base will crater.
I get where a guy like Cosmo is coming from in this comment thread. But the more I think about it trading Mullins makes sense. He may never have another year like 2021, he also declined quickly the last few weeks of the season going from like .313 BA to .291, .915 OPS to like .870 and really making fans sweat out that 30th HR and 30th stolen base which felt like forgone conclusions in early September.
Besides the O’s have invested so many high draft picks in the OF the last 3 drafts. Stowers, Watson, Kjerstad, Haskins, Cowser, Trimble, Rhoads, Jackson. Every single one from college who you should know what you have within 2-3 years. What we need is pitching and if Mullins can net 3 pitchers with an already established MiLB background who have a chance to be somewhere between a 2-4 starter, I say fo for it and let the chips fall where they may.
They definitely should not have Mancini or Santander on the Opening Day roster.
The Orioles are in an untenable position because of their division. I don’t see them competing in the next three or four years. S good as they might get, the Yanks, Sox, Tampa et al would have to remain stagnant. That’s unlikely. The Os need to get real lucky with more than a few young players.
I guess that’s possible but I find it a rough road to ride.
What choice do you have? You left out Toronto too, which has A LOT of young controllable talent. The Ray’s are the masters of the game the O’s are trying to play and yeah Boston & NY are Boston & NY, not going anywhere.
The O’s are investing so much into the farm system and established an international free agent presence. That’s all you can do. Stockpile as much talent and as many resources for 2023 and beyond. Anyone who doesn’t fit that timeline that can be shipped off for more prospects, fine. O’s have 3 picks in first 40 picks of the draft next year too!
If enough guys end up producing the fan base will come back, maybe a 2023 .500 team, then a 2024 team that’s in the wild card hunt in late September. 24-25 offseason you open up the wallet and fill any remaining holes. It’s seriously the only way.
In the past 3 drafts the Orioles have had 15 picks in the first 4 rounds. Of those 15 picks they have drafted:
(1) catcher
(4) SS
(1) 2B
(1) 3B
(0) pitchers
(8) OF
You guys can tell me who is expendable and what the organization needs now.
They don’t really want to trade him. But if someone offers the moon, they’ll take it.
Phillies! A package of Mullins and Means. Send Bohm, Didi, Maton, Moniak, Eflin and 3 minor leaguers that’s not name Bryson Scott.
♂️