Mets bolster outfield after acquiring veteran

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 2018-20 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 2018-21. 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 $8.725M this year, which leaves about $2.8M 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 $3.1M, so they’re paying close to $6M 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 No. 22 prospect in the Mets’ system. FanGraphs recently put him in the No. 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 No. 27 prospect in the system. Their report notes that he throws a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider and changeup. FanGraphs puts him in the No. 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 on July 11 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.