SAN DIEGO — Perched in first place with a mostly healthy roster and one of their most dynamic offensive cores in decades, the Mets entered late July sensing another fine runway for a deep postseason run. They then became one of the Trade Deadline’s more active teams, capping their frenzy two hours before the cutoff with a deal for Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins.
Mullins joined the Mets alongside a trio of leverage relievers — Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto — in one of the largest Deadline hauls of any team. To acquire those players, the Mets did not sacrifice any of their Top 9 prospects.
TRADE DETAILS
Mets receive: OF Cedric Mullins
Orioles receive: RHP Anthony Nunez (Mets’ No. 14 prospect), RHP Raimon Gómez (Mets’ No. 30 prospect), RHP Chandler Marsh
“Our responsibility here is to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs and ultimately win a World Series every single year,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “That’s what this should be. That’s what we’re aiming to make it. So I don’t view this period of Mets competitiveness in a defined window. I view it as the beginning of what should be a very long and sustained period of competitiveness at the highest level.
“I think the moves we were able to make the last couple of days certainly help that this year without — in a very material way — sacrificing some really high-upside, special talent that could help us in years to come.”
To acquire Mullins, the Mets parted with three undrafted Minor League relievers. That fell in line with their overall deadline strategy of improving the club without sacrificing significant future value.
All four players the Mets acquired are pure rentals, meaning they can become free agents after this season.
“We were certainly open and engaged on players who provided multiple years of control,” Stearns said. “But at the end of the day, these were the ones that we thought made the most sense for our team, for our organization.”
Heading into deadline week, relief help was the Mets’ clear top priority. Center field was next on the list for a club that’s mostly platooned Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor at that position. While McNeil has been productive, he’s not a natural center fielder. Taylor, meanwhile, is a strong defender who’s statistically been one of the league’s worst offensive outfielders.
Mullins, a 2021 All-Star and another solid defender, deepens that mix. His presence should allow the Mets to spread McNeil around the diamond, which will have ripple effects throughout the roster. If McNeil largely plays second, Brett Baty will become more of a full-time third baseman. Ronny Mauricio can also man that position while splitting DH reps with Mark Vientos.
The Mets had made Baty, Mauricio, Vientos and Luisangel Acuña available in deadline talks, according to sources, but didn’t wind up trading any of them. Instead, they dealt lesser pieces for Helsley, Rogers, Soto and Mullins.
“And [we’re] really happy with the players we were able to bring in,” Stearns said.
Mullins, 30, was batting .229/.305/.433 in 91 games for the Orioles. He was the Orioles’ longest-tenured player whose accomplishments during a career-best 2021 season included an All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger award. That year, Mullins hit .291 with 37 doubles, five triples, 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases and an .878 OPS over 159 games, recording the only 30-30 season in Orioles history.
Mullins hasn’t been the same sort of player since that time, mustering a .241/.310/.412 slash line from 2022-25. But he’s been more productive of late, with a .321/.333/.547 performance since July 10, including four multi-hit games over his last five contests. He’s also one of the game’s better baserunners. A frequent leadoff hitter in Baltimore, Mullins will likely bat toward the bottom of the Mets’ order, giving them an additional measure of speed and athleticism.
“We talk a lot about ways that players can impact games that may not always show up in the box score,” Stearns said, “and we think Cedric has the ability to do a lot of that.”
To acquire him, the Mets gave up three pieces who were all but anonymous a year ago — a credit to the amateur scouting department. Nunez was a pop-up prospect who stormed his way to Double-A after the Mets gave him an opportunity. Gómez, who signed at age 19, is one of the hardest throwers in professional baseball, while Marsh joined the organization last year as an undrafted free agent.
One area the Mets didn’t upgrade is their rotation, which ranks 15th in the Majors in ERA since May 15. But in building one of the league’s strongest bullpens, the Mets believe they can avoid leaning too heavily on lesser starting pitchers. They also believe top prospects Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and/or Jonah Tong could help later this season.
“As I’ve said throughout, I think there are multiple ways to build a pitching staff,” Stearns said. “We focused on the back end of a pitching staff — the bullpen. We’re really happy with the arms we were able to acquire.”
