Orioles Could Trade $9 Million All-Star To Royals In Deadline Blockbuster

There's excitement around the Kansas City Royals this week, but this is still a team with a lot of flaws.

Tuesday marked the start of top prospect Jac Caglianone's major league career, and the Royals won 10-7 over the St. Louis Cardinals. But this is still the team with the fewest home runs and stolen bases by outfielders in all of Major League Baseball.

Caglianone should get some run in the outfield, but this Kansas City team could still use at least one more outfielder with the potential to do damage. To that end, one Royals writer believes a Baltimore Orioles star should be high on their trade deadline priority list.

In a recent article, Royals Review's Matt Chabot named Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins, a former All-Star who will hit free agency this winter, as a top prospective target for this Kansas City club this summer.

"At the top of the trade list in Baltimore is Cedric Mullins, who has gotten off to a hot start this year, with 10 homers and an OPS of .805," Chabot wrote.

"Mullins has spent each of his first eight seasons with the Orioles and has been a reliable do-it-all outfielder who brings a good bat, a good glove, and great speed on the bases. With this being the last year in Mullins’ contract and the Orioles needing to extend their young stars, it is likely Mullins will be on the trade block, and he should be the Royals' top target this offseason."

With a salary of $8.7 million, Mullins might make the Royals' payroll a bit higher than they were hoping to keep it at the start of the year. But if they truly believe they're in a title window, they have to be willing to make some financial sacrifices.

It's also worth monitoring the fact that the Orioles have now won their last four games, and recently returned outfielder Colton Cowser from the injured list. They're still 13 games under .500, but a prolonged hot stretch could convince them they shouldn't sell.

Regardless, Mullins is definitely a name the Royals should have circled for now as they start mapping out their trade deadline plans in advance of the all-important final week of July.

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