The New York Mets are one of baseball’s finest teams this season, but they still need to improve their roster. While the Mets had a tremendous first half in Queens, they were blasted by the Cincinnati Reds to begin the second half on Friday. In the coming weeks, the Mets are expected to be aggressive in the trade market. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently claimed that the Mets would be the “best landing spot” in a trade for Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins in the coming weeks. “Mullins continues to be a good provider of power and speed, with a 101 OPS+, 13 home runs, and 41 RBI.
“And 13 steals in 312 plate appearances,” Reuter reported. “His defensive metrics (-16 DRS) are poor, which has undercut his offensive value, though he has been a quality defender in center field in the past.” Tyrone Taylor has 273 plate appearances this season and is hitting.213/.267/.313 for a 68 OPS+, so finding an outfield improvement should be a top priority. Mullins would move Jeff McNeil back to second base, leaving Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio to share time at the hot corner. Mullins appeared to be an appealing trade option earlier in the season, but he hasn’t been particularly impressive since.
He has a slightly above-average bat, but it doesn’t compensate for his poor outfield defense. The veteran’s contract is about to expire, so acquiring him would not cost the Mets much. The only reason this trade makes sense is that the Mets could probably get him for very little prospect value. Mullins is unlikely to demand a top-20 prospect from the Mets’ system, but New York might trade one or two lower-level players to take a chance on the struggling veteran.
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