The Mets have acquired outfielder Cedric Mullins from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Pitching prospects Raimon Gómez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh are heading to the Orioles in exchange. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the deal prior to the official announcement. Outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Mullins.
Mullins, 30, will be changing teams for the first time in his career. The Orioles drafted him with a 13th-round pick back in 2015. He got some part-time play in the 2018-2020 seasons without doing too much to stand out, but then had a massive breakout in 2021. He hit 30 home runs that year and stole 30 bases. He walked in 8.7% of his plate appearances and only struck out 18.5% of the time. He slashed .291/.360/.518 for a 136 wRC+. Thanks to that offense, those steals and his strong defense, FanGraphs credited him with six wins above replacement.
That season now looks like an outlier. He hasn’t been able to maintain that level of production but has been a solid everyday player nonetheless. From 2022 to the present, he has hit .241/.310/.412 for a 103 wRC+, indicating he’s been 3% better than the league average hitter in that time. But he has stolen 99 bases and still runs the ball down on the grass. FanGraphs has credited him with 8.8 fWAR in that span, a bit more than two wins per year.
Mullins’ presence on the roster provided a bridge between eras. The Orioles were rebuilding when he first came up. As he broke out, he was a rare bright spot during an otherwise dreary period, with the O’s losing at least 108 games in each full season from 2018 to 2021. The club then emerged as a contender, getting over .500 in 2022 and then making the playoffs in the two years after that.
However, things have gone downhill in 2025, his final season before reaching free agency. Multiple injuries tanked the club early on. They are currently 50-59 and seven games back of a playoff spot, marking them as clear sellers. They have already traded Bryan Baker to the Rays, Gregory Soto to the Mets, Seranthony Domínguez to the Blue Jays, Andrew Kittredge to the Cubs and Ramón Urías to the Astros. With Mullins being an impending free agent, he was also on the list.
For the Mets, Mullins is a sensible addition, as center field has been a question mark for them this year. They began the season with Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor as their options there. Siri fouled a ball of himself early in the year and suffered a fractured tibia. He’s been on the shelf for almost three months and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Taylor has a dismal .201/.258/.295 line on the year. With those struggles, the Mets have been connected to center fielders such as Mullins, Luis Robert Jr., Harrison Bader and Ramón Laureano.
The Mets have been using Jeff McNeil in center field quite a bit. Presumably, bringing Mullins aboard will allow McNeil to move back to his regular second base position. That could perhaps increase the chances of the Mets flipping one of their young infielders. The Mets have been using Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña at second and third base this year. Reportedly, they are open to trading from that group, though nothing has come together yet.
Mullins is making $8.725MM this year, which leaves about $2.8MM left to be paid out. The Mets are a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and are over the top tier. That means they face a 110% tax rate on any money they add to the ledger. The taxes will be about $3.1MM, so they’re paying close to $6MM total to bring in Mullins for the stretch run and postseason. That’s a drop in the bucket for them, as they have some of the highest payrolls in the league in recent years.
They are also parting with three young players. Gómez, 23, has attracted some attention thanks to his elite velocity. He can hit triple-digits regularly, having even touched 105 miles per hour. However, as often happens with pitchers with this kind of stuff, there are health and control concerns. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 and most of his 2024. He has just 102 innings pitched in his five minor league seasons. He has punched out 28.4% of opponents but also given out walks at a 13.3% clip.
He is a project but one with exciting raw talent. Baseball America lists him as the #22 prospect in the Mets’ system. FanGraphs recently put him in the #31 slot. The big question seems to be whether or not he’ll ever harness his stuff. He hasn’t yet climbed beyond the High-A level but has already been eligible for the Rule 5 draft and will be exposed again this winter.
Nunez, 24, is a converted infielder. He was drafted by the Padres as a shortstop but got released back in 2021. He took up pitching and landed a minor league deal with the Mets in 2024. Since then, he has climbed as high as Double-A. In 50 innings across multiple levels, he has a 1.80 ERA and massive 37.5% strikeout rate. He has also walked 11.5% of batters faced, though that high figure is perhaps not surprising for a guy who hasn’t been pitching for very long.
BA lists him as the #27 prospect in the system. Their report notes that he throws a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider and changeup. FanGraphs puts him in the #18 spot. Like Gomez, he has already been Rule 5 eligible, so he’ll need a 40-man spot if the O’s don’t want him to be exposed again.
Marsh, 22, was signed last year as an undrafted free agent. He has thrown 42 2/3 minor league innings with a 2.53 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on their recent list of the top Mets prospects, noting that he has a great slider but a lack of fastball control. Unlike the other two, he won’t be Rule 5 eligible until after the 2027 season.
For the O’s, Mullins was on his way out the door in a lost season, so they’ve grabbed a bunch of young arms. They all seem like long-term projects, but the organization presumably feels like there’s upside in here which makes it a worthy gamble. For the Mets, none of those arms were likely to help them anytime soon. Since they are in first place and making a run at a title, Mullins helps them today.
Winker landed on the 10-day IL July 11th due to back inflammation. This transfer means he’s ineligible to return until early September, so it seems the Mets don’t think he’s close to a return.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
It’s only money. – Steve
Wrong move
They gave up 3 non impact prospects for him
I’m fine with it
They need offense. Mullins is meh.
Better than what they have. I’m on board.
It doesn’t necessarily raise the ceiling, but it definitely raised the floor.
Not much else is available
Well said
I would have preferred Laureano or Miguel Andujar. The CF need was overrated. The need was for a RHed bat.
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins as the WORST defensive center fielder in MLB this season. Batting .229
Another Rental!!!
Dombrowski schooled Stearns this deadline!
He got a better reliever with Control!!
He got Bader; just watch it play out!!
What happened to Cohen’s promise to build the farm and be sustainable? Another Lie to us Mets fans!
Should have just brought up Gilbert instead of trading him; even his defense is better!
Stearns has turned the Mets into a Rental Outfit going Nowhere!
OAA has Mullins as an asset in CF. So depends the Metric, he passes the eye test out there too. You know very little Gilbert is not a better defender then Mullins you couldn’t find an executive, scout or analyst that believes Gilbert is the superior defender. Gilbert is the only prospect of any real potential in the next 3-4 years given up. Tidwell will be lucky to carve a regular role as a MLB reliever. None of the other prospects given up have major upside or are close to the majors. Most teams have a Butto who is a dumpster fire since he lost his changeup 9 months ago. Phillies gave up 2 legit top prospects, Mets gave up none. Most the names they gave up were going to be lost in the Rule 5 and replaced by other kids breaking out and joining the middle to back end of their top 30 prospects. The farm is still intact and the Mets now have a super pen and somebody in CF who isn’t an automatic out.
Disagree. Would have preferred Laureano, but who knows what he would have cost? Put Taylor on the bench. Mullins is much better for the Mets than Taylor, and McNeil can mostly play his prime position again. Don’t care what Dombrowski did. What matters is how we play now. LGM!
3 potential bullpen pieces that have value and even if you can’t develop them they have trade value.
@ AI Nunez is a minor league free agent at the end of the year, so no trade value there. That said, he’s been excellent in AA at stretches this year.. I suppose Bal could decide to move him to AAA now and add him to the roster in November.
Gomez has a high-end fastball. Pretty fair chance they lose him in the minor league phase of Rule 5.
Horace
Why?
What’s the facination with Robert. 1. He’s terrible. 2. Mets structly looking for short-term CF with Benge or Jett coming fast. 3. ChSox wanted way too much is the word.
1) Why do you assume its a fascination. It was some interest. If it was a fascination, a deal would have gotten done.
2) He’s not terrible – he’s fire against lefties, and a much higher ceiling than Mullins. A ceiling that he has been reaching for the past month.
3) Jett is not even a CF, referring to him as one exposes one as uninformed. He dabbles in CF, and his defense is not very good there at this point. He’s played over 64 of his 87 games in the IF, and only 14 in CF.
3) Yes, Chisox wanted too much so a deal didn’t get done. So why are Met fans still making noise about it.
Facination of Mets fans. Mets are not looking to pay Robert $20m next year – That’s obscene. Jett does play CF. He is inexperienced NOT terrible .
Replacement for Tyrone Taylor, plus Siri doesn’t seem like he’s ever coming back. Let’s see what the return is.
Should be pretty light.
I certainly hope so!
Three no name prospects
Nunez is the Mets #14 prospect, Gomez #30, Marsh not listed on MLB pipeline. Doesn’t seem like a high price but the O’s got at least some value. Win-win in my opinion.
Gomez is the young kid who set records for throwing mega cheese (104.5 mph). Nunez is a former infield prospect who went back to college at a Division II school, got signed by Mets and has quietly been successful in Double A as a reliever. Considering the return is Mullins, this deal is as lopsided as the Rogers move.
None of these deals were lopsided stop prospect hugging, Sterns knows what he is doing
Not to mention all of their rankings went up in the last few days because the Mets traded a bunch of players ranked higher then them.
They have names. Mean
Not to mention that this doesn’t move the needle and they did not need another LHed bat.
The Rogers move that has ultimately worked out for both teams?
Lopsided? For who? The Mets.
They gave 9 total second and third tier prospects for these 3 players in 2 days.
They literally have no use to a championship caliber team with a strong farm system. This is exactly what you do with mid prospects.
Mullins hits LH pitching well enough.
Help me out here. How did that happen? He actually played two season of rookie ball for the Padres then went to college…am I missing something?
Correct. Gomez wasn’t even top 30 until the Mets traded other prospects the day before. He literally spent about 16 hours as a top 30 prospect AND that’s according to MLB list nobody else even had him on the list period. Nunez is 14th by MLB mid to late 20s by everyone else standard. This package is very light. Guarantee nobody remembers those 3 names and that they were traded for Cedric Mullins 3-5 years from now.
I should’ve specified i was talking about Nunez. But I answered my own question…can play DII or DIII if you played under a certain number of minor league games. I never knew that…
Calling him our 14 prospect is lunacy. He was signed as a minor league free agent… It’s basically ranking an NBA prospect amongst college kids, he’s played minor league ball then went to college now is playing minor league ball again, he’s 24, he’s not a “prospect”
It doesn’t matter if he went back to college or to the moon before joining the minors. He’s 23 and finding success at Double-A in the bullpen. with teammates older than him. He’s more likely to develop into a reliable setup arm than be a nobody.
Quoting from MLB’s prospect lists
“Nunez has dominated batters from both sides in the first three months of ’25″”
“Nunez is looking like a major find by Mets scouting and an early win for the group’s pitching corps, though now it will be up to the Orioles to polish him up for the big leauges.”
Trades always involve giving up value on both sides. My issue is pieces like Nunez are washed up nobodies while everyone’s treating Mullins like the 2021 version, something he’s replicated. He’s a fine alternative to Taylor, but I’m not sure he’s good enough to relegate the latter to the bench..
Mullin’s weird reverse splits this season aside, I think bringing in another LHed bat simply because he plays CF was not the greatest call Stearns ever made. Just calling it like I see it. I would have preferred a RHed bat… Laureano or Andujar or even SHing Willi Castro. And it’s not because of the arms they gave up, but at least 2 of them seem to have some sort of mojo.
Wait you’re burying the lede here. He went to the moon?
His first stint in minor league ball was as a position player. Went back to college to pitch, and is doing that quote well now. He’s 24 because of the time he lost/spent trying to be an infielder. 24 and excelling in AA is not a kiss of death anyway. Especially for relievers who come ang go at all ages.
Seems like it’s NOT a replacement for Taylor.. they’ll share CF. So I really don’t understand adding another LHed bat.
Taylor isn’t going to be playing hardly at all. He came in the game as an injury replacement for Soto and was immediately pinch hit for in the fourth or fifth inning.
Well, Mullins does have crazy reverse splits this year!
Reverse split, that sounds like an 80s fitness show move
In a perfect world the NYM preferred a RH bat but time was of the essence. You can’t always predict when your favorite targets get grabbed up –
it’s a delicate balance, GMs playing poker.
Miguel Andujar was all they needed and would have been the better fit IMO.
Mullins hits LHP.
“Seems like it’s NOT a replacement for Taylor.. they’ll share CF.”
I don’t know where you’re getting this from but McNeil and Taylor already share CF. Now it’ll be McNeil and Mullins. Taylor is the odd man out.
Siri is the new Jed Lowrie. 😉
Ha, was just talking about this scenario. Good get.
Good for them he’s better than Bader. IMO
Not sure the stats back that up, but glad you’re happy with it.
He definitely is.
Except statistically Bader is better in n both sides of the ball.
Details
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins or Mulligan as the worst CF in baseball this year. How is that definite for being better than Bader??
“Your opinion”
No he isn’t, but he’s better than Tyrone Taylor.
It’s a good addition for the Mets who made some good trades without giving up any of their best prospects.
❤️ Cedric!
Thanks Cedric, and best of luck!
For who?
Hopefully no more than a bag of balls. Mullins isn’t a very good player at this stage of his career.
He’s pretty comfortably a two win player. He’s above average defensively and has stretches where he can carry games offensively
He has a lot of catching up to do then to get to that point considering he’s at 0.1 bWAR right now
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins or Mulligan as the worst CF in baseball this year. How is that above average??
Juan Soto.
This is not Luis Robert
Thank god.
You are correct, he’s a better player this season in almost all categories.
He’s a better player in a better line up, take Luis Robert out of that AAA white Sox line up and then we can talk numbers
As a Mets fan, considering the reported asking price for Robert, I’m 100% fine with that.
Strangely, I’d rather have Mullins than Robert Jr. At least Mullins doesn’t get hurt that often.
Guess they got tired of ChiSox being stupid about Robert. Mullins isn’t great at the plate, but having another option at CF can’t hurt when Taylor has been so badly exposed after Siri went down.
Has to be better at the plate than Taylor, but not strong defensively.
Every team got tired of the Robert jr saga.
Not much of a CF upgrade…. hopefully the cost is low.
You obviously don’t know how good Cedric in CF is
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins or Mulligan as the worst CF in baseball this year. How good is that?
I don’t think he’s going to be the every day starter. He’s a big upgrade over Tyrone Taylor, and that’s what matters.
It’s not. And statcast says his actual results are inflated.
Yeah, not a great get. Better bat than Taylor but a poor defender.
Great range and jumps. Not a strong arm. Otherwise your poor defender comment shows you never watched him play.
Mullins has a -1.2 dWAR. Stats don’t lie; the dude is an awful glove.
Defensive stats lie
Lmao citing only dWAR is silly enough but saying ‘stats don’t lie’ about defense is dumb. Statcast says his fielding range is 83rd percentile. Sooo, ‘stats don’t lie’, he’s a good defender.
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins or Mulligan as the worst CF in baseball this year. What have you been watching?!
Buy a new laugh track this one keeps skipping. I have been watching Cedric make amazing catches all season long and his stats are skewered by the fact that he gets to fly balls others don’t even try for.
Statcast puts Mullins slightly above average based on Outs Above Average and Outfield Catch Probability. Where he ranks poorly is Arm Value. He’s still an effective base stealer and if he gets on one of his hitting hot streaks Mets fans will love him. O’s fans will miss him and are already wondering where he will rank on best all-time Oriole outfielders.
Better than all field zero hit Taylor … or having a 2b player, McNeil, play CF.
23 yo with brilliant numbers pitching in A+ and AA this year, but very few innings, career, in Anthony Nunez. Great batting eye in the SEC, but is no longer playing a position.
Raimon Gomez–also 23, has hit 105 mph on the gun. Just 102 IP, career. No sense of the K zone. A project.
Chandler Marsh—22, another live arm, little experience.
I like it better than Robert. Don’t know why but just not sold on Robert!
Because we’ve been hearing for years about how great Luis Robert is and then you see him play and you realize it’s people who are in love with the potential versus the reality. He just never has really been that good, possibly because he always seems to be hurt.
Solid enough. Now Stearns make the move for a significant SP
Cease, Kelly and Gallen are still available and there are 2+ hours on the clock.
Holy Christmas!
That picture haha
Where does Nimmo play? Left?
he plays left!
It’s where he plays.
Where he usually plays…
I was starting to wonder if the orioles were going a different direction
No, they’re still going south.
Yawn. David Stearns is the worst.
?? The Mets are easily having one of the best trade deadlines
While being dwarfed by the ballclub in The Bronx.
How? Helsley, Rogers, Soto and Mullins is a much better haul than Bednar, Bird, Rosario and Slater
Yankees can go with a closer by committee. Mets have it all on Edwin Diaz.
Sorry, Charlie, but as of right now, it’s a wash at best for the Yankees.
Who did we give up ? Details plz.
Benge and Jett
Baltimore just keeps piling up more and more garbage. How many guys did they receive that won’t amount to anything in the last 24 hours?
The overwhelming majority of prospects won’t amount to anything, but some do, and sometimes it is not the ones people expect.
We won’t know for awhile yet if any of the guys the Orioles have acquired at this deadline amount to anything, but a few of them are pretty interesting.
Regardless these are all rentals who won’t contribute to a winning season or receive a QO. At minimum these are prospects the O’s can use to acquire pitching for next season.
Floch-it will remind me to scroll down to transactions to remind me where we got these guys, if flipped in a trade or they appear in 2030, to see if the trade was worth it.
I thought Elias was making trades to help out 2026, so much for that.
Thornton—how do you propose he do that? Do you want to acquire a major leaguer and pay a premium for the additional 3 worthless months (to us as a non contender)
If he doesn’t use these guys and/or internal prospects in the winter to upgrade the roster then you hammer on him.
jbigz12 – well now let’s see the O’Hearn/Laureano trade.
I expected a bit more return than A on a couple of these.
Another problem with prospects is some humans take longer than others to succeed at the MLB level.
You can lose them early to the rule 5 and eventually they run out of options and you only have 40 roster spots.
Please tell me what holding onto any of the traded players does for this season?
That’s what happens when you have guys on expiring contracts underperforming.
Trading Mullins is fine, but none of the O’s trades will yield anyone who can help this club before Gunnar, Jackson, Adley and Westburg all become free agents.
Nunez is intriguing; k/9 numbers are always nice to see.
It is a shocking amount of minor league bullpen arms though. I know the MLB BP needs a rebuild going into next year, but it doesn’t seem like many of these guys address that need in 2026, and furthermore, who trades for minor league relievers? That’s a new one to me, but, they know better than me, so I’ll assume they’re onto the ‘next thing’ to exploit in valuations while others are not hip to what that ‘thang’ is.
…a lot of single A players in these trades, so time will tell…a long time.
On the other hand, Mike Elias has so far turned four expiring contracts and a guy with a team option for 2026 into eight lottery tickets — literally something for nothing in a season where the O’s are playing out the string. Absolutely none of the players Elias has traded so far (Mullins, Urias, Dominguez, Soto and Baker) were going to return strong, top 15 prospect talent from any organization. I don’t know what you were expecting in return for Mullins and the others but if it; is much more than Elias has already brought back into the organization through these trades you don’t seem to be connected to baseball reality.
Lol Phils and Mets just mirroring each other, like the Red Sox and Yankees used to.
They literally had the same holes to fill.
This is the best news yet for the Phillies. The big Mets pickup is an outfielder who has hit .150 since end of April and can’t field. Stearns must think he still works in Milwaukee with these cheap crap pickups.
The past isn’t a perfect predictor of future events. That’s always the dilemma.
I was leaning towards giving up one big prospect for Robert. He hits RH and has the classic CF body type but Stearns didn’t believe LR upside was worth the cost.I the offseason many teams will probably have a chance to sign him as a FA if his team option is declined
Within the batting order dynamic if the current NYM team his results will help.
Cautiously optimistic. He doesn’t have to be Willie Mays in his prime just maybe shades of Mookie Wilson
What is best spot in batting order for Cedric a LH batter.
He used to be a switch hitter but gave that up.
Try multiple spots. Leadoff,Bat 5th?
Would like some L and R balance but not always possible
CIN may get Robert. They had previous interest and price probably has gone down with PHI, NYM, SDP and HOU getting someone else
Three late-inning relievers and a quality CF. Stearns is knocking it out of the park.
Finally mets make a deal where they dont get fleeced
Did they get that hat too?
That’s the os hr celebration hat. Pirates of Caribbean from Disney when they were in spring training.
Honestly? I think this is one of those under-the-radar moves that could end up looking really smart come September.
Yeah, Mullins hasn’t been lighting it up this season — .220 AVG, OBP sub-.300 — but let’s not pretend the dude forgot how to play. This is a former 30/30 guy we’re talking about, and the raw tools haven’t gone anywhere.
Quick rundown:
Statcast says his hard-hit rate and sprint speed are still elite. BABIP is abnormally low, so there’s probably some bad luck baked into those numbers.
Old-school view: Plays great defense in CF, runs the bases like a demon, gives the Mets some needed lefty pop. Not every bat in the lineup has to be a cleanup threat — some just need to cause chaos.
Contract situation: He’s under control through 2025. This isn’t a rental, it’s a 2-year investment with upside.
Best part? He doesn’t need to be 2021 Mullins to help this team. He just needs to give Nimmo some days off, be a spark at the bottom/top of the order, and track down balls in the gap. It’s a buy-low on a guy who still has 20/20 potential if things click.
Think: Ben Zobrist 2016 vibes, not flashy, but critical in the right system.
Look, I get the skepticism, but if you watched the Mets roll out the “random left fielder of the week” all summer, this feels like a real upgrade.
And let’s be real — Mets fans have survived Jason Bay, Kevin Pillar, and the ghost of Aaron Altherr. Mullins might as well be Rickey Henderson compared to that lineup card (its a joke, easyyyy)
Bottom line:
Elite speed + defense
Lefty bat with bounce-back upside
Controlled through 2025
Not a slam dunk, but a smart roll of the dice
Less painful than waiting in the Citi Field Shake Shack line
Let’s just hope this trade ages more like Lindor than like Cano…
You do know that 2025 is this year, right? He’s a rental…
Well golly, I thought he had an option. My mistake… wonder who Im getting his contract confused with.
bro it is 2025 tf are you talking about
@shea I think this is AI. The em-dash kinda gives it away.
Big time AI brain 🧠
There has been no “random left fielder of the week” for the Mets this summer, though. It’s been Nimmo, Nimmo, and more Nimmo. Mullins will be playing CF for them…
Orioles fan here. It depends on which Ced you get.
In April he was an All Star candidate. Then he didn’t hit for 2 months because he gets swing-happy. He’s been fairly hot the last couple of weeks. Last year he was injured, super ice cold for a long stretch and then super hot.
When he’s hot he will also take walks, and when he gets on base he can run. He doesn’t have much of an arm and I don’t know what you make of defensive metrics, but he will make highlight catches and rob home runs.
Could be a steal for 3 guys who may never bubble above AA. I’m sure if he helps in a playoff run its just fine. On the Orioles end its always wait and see on prospects, or if they flip in a trade.
-1.2 dWAR is not “elite defense”
Did someone say Cano… 🙂
Ridiculous. Mullins is now replacement level, at age 30, the age most CFers are in swift decline—as is Mullins.
Nice to see him play on a contender down the stretch. It’s sad, but it’s the right move. They could resign him next season. I doubt he gets too much in the way of offers.
Just when I worried the Mets knew what they were doing, then they do something like this. Thank God.
Right, the Mets don’t know what they’re doing and you do? Sure.
Check back in Oct. This will add NOTHING to the Mets WS aspirations. Keep being delusional.
briandrain
brian214: You saying that you know better what a team needs than that team’s management makes you the delusional one, at least until you get a MLB GM job.
And being a dick won’t make yours any bigger.
I’m stuck at LaGuardia for 8+ hrs. This is what happens when I blow over $100 at an airport bar killing time. Apologies.
Thanks. But hey, isn’t that why bars are a thing in airports?
They could’ve done better, they could’ve done worse. He’s an upgrade over what they have and he didn’t cost much.
That is right I think. They are a 1st place team and the available slate of players didn’t provide much more upside than they already have. The improve here without giving up any of the their most valued prospects or current young starters. Great deadline moves by Stearns.
Pretty much. Can’t hurt. He’s an improvement, surprisingly, on offense vs. what’s been delivered and he’s solid defensively if I recall correctly. Didn’t give up much for a rental.
Another excellent trade by Stearns.
Unlike that clown GM in the Bronx.
Whose haul may turn out to be better after all.
“may turn out to be better after all”? Above you said the Yankees haul “dwarfed” what the Mets picked up. Second-guessing yourself already, Chuckster?
Good catch
I remember Mullins replacing Adam Jones in CF. Both were solid Orioles.
Oh great.. statcast has him even worse than his actual results…. moreover adding another LHed hitter was stupid. If they wanted to upgrade over Taylor, that’s ok.. now they’re going to just complement Taylor with a platoon bat.
Stearns could well be out there now selling Blackburn as a low cost rotation option to a cash strapped contender. If he can somehow pull that off for any sort of usable return, it would be the stuff of legends
Thanks for the memories, Ced.
Good luck in Queens.
Good luck, Cedric Mullins.
That’s not bad, especially if the return isn’t exorbitant. Meanwhile, Hoyer…
Cedric Mullins is a better player than the stats show.
He’s a plus defender, he hits for power, he can steal a base. He can bunt and is a good situational hitter. He’s a clubhouse leader.
Mets fans, you are going to like him — he does a lot to help you win.
MonsterDan: I’m a Mets fan and I already like him having seen him play for the Orioles.
He is NOT a plus defender; Defensive Runs Saved ranked him as the Worst defender in baseball this year. Another bad move by Stearns
Whatever you say, jefe.
BTW, where was your last job as a MLB GM?
MonstarDan,
Good evaluation. I agree with you 100% having watched Cedric Mullins develop with the O’s.
He stopped trying to be a switch hitter, and hasn’t looked back.
Not many bats out there as it was, and giving up acuna/vientos and Tong for Robert was never going to happen. I’m glad they’re keeping the prospects at home. Mullins an upgrade over Taylor and an out of position McNeil already.
At this point Cedric is just an entertainer. Fortunately for the lords of Flatbush, he got jokes
Would be nice if at least one of our pickups were still under team control for a year or 2 and under age 30. Giving away prospects for 2 months on every trade.
Exactly
Have you all seen the week Cedric has had? A beast in the field. Stole at least 3-4 homers.
“A beast in the field” he has a -1.2 dWAR
OK you’ve commented this in 5 places. I can read BR.
I’d say out of every 10 Orioles’ defensive highlights the past 4 years, at least 4 are Mullins.
That’s just a testament to how awful the Orioles’ defense is. I don’t care about flashy plays, I care about every day defense and the stats don’t lie.
Defensive Runs Saved evaluates Mullins or Mulligan as the worst CF in baseball this year. How good is that?
83rd percentile for defensive range according to Statcast. It’s fun to cherry-pick stats to support a narrative, isn’t it?
I would have preferred the Mets stood pat and kept playing McNeil in CF. I don’t see Mullins as much of an upgrade. But it appears this time they gave away lottery tickets and at least it’s not an overpay for Luis Robert.
McNeils versatility is useful and for his limited experience in the OF he provides decent defense. He has made some memorable clutch catches BUT he doesn’t have the overall range and instincts to prevent too many balls to fall in front of him
An experienced CF can really help Juan Soto cover less ground, he needs more help than Nimmo
McNeil is almost Alonso slow. He’s made a couple of great plays, but he’s too slow to make plays that are routine for Taylor such as cutting off a ball headed for the gap and holding the batter to a single.
He’s also 33, and the Mets cannot afford to wear him out with 2 months left. Mullins is now the Mets 4th OFer, pushing Taylor to #5 on the chart. It’s a small move, but it will also be critical if one of McNeil or Taylor are injured.
We also have the issue of Soto’s injury and Nimmo’s foot problems. It wasn’t a great move, but it was a necessary move.
Mullins is one of my favorite players of this era. Lots of fun to watch, reps Team USA at the Classic, cool in interviews.
If he gets a ring in his career I’d be happy for him.
Mullins is an exciting player, especially on defense.
Should have targeted Laureano.
1. Cheap
2. Has a year of control
Surely the Orioles asked for more
Leave him for the reds please
NYM has lost a lot of offense from C, DH,CF, 3B and specifically Vientos, Alvarez over the season for multiple reasons including injuries, young players growing pains/inconsistentcies etc.
No opponent is felling sorry for them
BP injuries and loss of Manea has been a big problem. Farm system must provide help in 2026, this team needs to get younger to compete. A little more emphasis on making contact may serve them well.
Alvarez and Vientos are coming around, Mauricio has taken ahold of 3B, and McNeil has provided offense from CF. Glass half full!
So called Baby Mets need to finish strong and give some veterans some days off.
It’s a marathon not a sprint
A++++++++ Baltimore. Teach Gomez control before he kills someone. Nunez could start but definitely nice reliever prospect. Even Marsh could be useful pen piece.
D Mets. Nice reliever trade chips to give up. Mullens in that much demand? Rather have Bader. Fair enough just relievers but feels like D instead of C
AI GM:
I think you’re proving AI is not the future of the world.
Nice move but they need pitching
mets were determined to trade basically nothing for an outfielder. mission accomplished
Let’s be frank, maybe even ballpark frank. This is getting sloppy, no? Maybe even a little stinky stank-ums? Can we drop our pants and be able to have a conversation? this thing smells, it literally reeks of old diaper. And i would know, I’ve thrown out so much trash my hair is aligned with cheeks… anyway, I just divorced my wife who is a terrible human being. So I’m feeling pretty good about that.
OK!
Be weird seeing Cedric in a Mets uniform. Maybe he’ll go back to Baltimore in the off-season. I don’t foresee a huge bidding war for him.
Im a yankees fan, but I gotta admit this is a smart and impressive, impactful deal
Yeah, trading for a replacement level guy. Very ‘impactful.’
A box of toilet mints and a few hotdog wrappers!
I’m not going to miss Mullins coming up with clutch hits against the Sox now that they won’t have to see him with the Orioles. Good pickup for the Mets, the OF defense gets a lot better and they can keep Taylor on the bench where he seems to be better suited
Does he get to bring the funny hat
I can’t wait to read the updated prospect rankings in the Baltimore organization after this trade deadline, talk about an influx of players. there are a lot of Oriole org guys that are about to go to the great DFA in the sky and possibly get signed to minor league deal with other clubs soon to make room for the new acquisitions. with minor league contraction there just isn’t a whole lot of places to stash young guys
Extra guy on the roster now. Baty or Acuna going to AAA? I assume Mauricio is staying. Or release Tyrone Taylor?
Winker transferred to 60 day IL.
Yes, but that only makes room on the 40-man, as Winker was already on the IL. Someone still needs to be removed from the active roster to make room for Mullins there.
Acuna has been sent to Syracuse. That’s the right move. He can play every day there
Why suggest Baty? He’s played the best of the three, overall, over the past month or longer. Id’ be very surprised if it were anyone but Acuna. That said, I would not assume that Mauricio stays over Baty.
Mauricio was hot last week is why. Acuna with the most options went down
Zero accuracy or logic to anything you just said. Mauricio has been hot for more than a week. And Baty has been performing well for longer, and with more consistency.
But let’s g with your mispereptions: so you’re saying that RM;s one hot week outweights five or six weeks of good performance by Bayt? Oh, OK.
And all three of them are in their last option year, so they all have the same status in that regard. Acuna was sent down because he is the weakest of the three, needs everyday playing time more, and has hardly been playing.
What are you Baty’s mom? All of Baty, Mauricio, Acuna, and Vientos have been underwhelming this season. That’s why nobody traded for them. Vientos had no options so it was going to be one of the others including your favorite.
Jose Siri is a better defender than Cedric. I wish Siri would recover faster , had he not gotten injured up this trade would’ve been unnecessary. If the cracked tibia from hitting a ball, his leg is not getting better than he needs to see multiple other orthopedic surgeons because he should’ve healed by now
Exceptionally stupid, Stupid, STUPID trade by the Mets!!! Who in the Mets organization wants to accept responsibility for this stupendous blunder? Tyrone Taylor is an outstanding defensive CF, far better than Cedric Mullins. So what if Taylor doesn’t hit much? His superior defense – especially at a position as critical as CF – is worth far more to the team than Mullins’ mediocre offense and demonstrably inferior defense. If the Mets truly are serious about winning, they should swallow their pride, acknowledge their mistake, and cut their losses by benching Mullins and returning Taylor to CF.
Exceptionally stupid, stupid, STUPID overreaction by Brad Scott. And premature, as well. Metrics are mixed on what Mullins is defensively. And Baltimore fans have had mostly good things to say about his ‘D’. So if you’re relying on metrics, then you’re going to have to swallow your pride and recognize that you don’t yet know what kind of a defender he is. Wait and see before judging. And its not that Taylor doesn’t hit much. Its that he’s not hitting at all lately. There are limits to how much you can sacrifice offense for defense, even at CF. Especially when you have two or three other question marks in your lineup, which the Mets do. Nothing is etched in stone here. If Mullins is a total bust defensively, the Mets can split the playing time, or even get Taylor more time if they feel its warranted.
The thing every single fan and pundit has overlooked about Taylor is that feeding him in part time might actually allow him to get back to hitting again. At which point the Mets can THEN decide to give him more playing time and Mullins less. Like they did last year. And like Milwaukee did with him for years before that.