The New York Mets enter the middle of June with multiple injuries, something the team wasn’t expecting to face entering the year. However, for the Mets, they’ve still played excellent baseball, sitting in first place in the National League East with a 45-27 record. The Mets are 2.5 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies and will have the trade deadline at the end of July to make the necessary moves to secure a tough division.
When searching for potential trade options, Dylan Sanders of Sports Illustrated proposed a trade idea for the Mets to land Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles. His trade idea would send Mullins to the Mets in exchange for Nolan McLean and Eli Serrano, two of New York’s top prospects.
“One contending team that should be interested is the New York Mets. With Jose Siri injured, it has mostly been Tyrone Taylor patrolling center. Neither of those players would be very promising to see starting on a playoff team.
“A potential trade between the two teams could look like this; Baltimore sends Mullins to the Mets in exchange for a prospect package of pitcher Nolan McLean and outfielder Eli Serrano,” Sanders wrote.
A Deal That Makes Sense for the Mets
If all it’ll take is two prospects for the New York Mets to land a player of Mullins’ caliber, it makes plenty of sense to get the deal done. Some expect the left-handed hitting outfielder to be available, including Bleacher Report, which named him one of the top trade deadline targets around Major League Baseball.
“And what a fire sale it could be. The O’s have nine impending free agents making north of $5M this season, including starting pitchers Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano who would both be highly coveted on the open market.
“Cedric Mullins is arguably the cream of the crop, though. Center fielders worth a darn tend to be few and far between on the summer trade block, and there are always a few contenders who could use one,” they wrote.
Can Mullins Regain Early-Season Form?
Throughout the year, Mullins has had some issues offensively. He started off the season like one of the better hitters in baseball, but has struggled since. The New York Mets, however, would have to hope that he returns to his April and March form.
Mullins has also swung the bat at a decent level in June, but was dealing with an injury, and has only played five games during the month.
However, in May, he hit just .179 in 84 at-bats, blasting four home runs. The Team USA outfielder has 11 home runs on the year, but is hitting .236.
But for the Mets, and all the injuries they’ve dealt with, finding an outfielder seems to be something they need to do.
When speaking to reporters, including Newsweek, David Stearns said that the Mets are still dealing with a few injuries in the outfield, a concerning sign as they head into the bulk of the campaign.
“Jesse Winker is still multiple weeks away from a rehab assignment, David Stearns said. Jose Siri had a setback. The bone hasn’t healed as well as the Mets hoped, so he’s being backed off of baseball activities. He’ll have it re-imaged in a few weeks,” they wrote.
Mullins would at least be on the field.
Mets Trade Proposal Lands 30 Home Run Team USA Outfielder