Mets Cap off Busy 2025 Trade Deadline By Landing Cedric Mullins

For the second time this week, the New York Mets have made a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, this time, capping off their 2025 trade deadline with the acquisition of center fielder Cedric Mullins.

First reported by Anthony DiComo, the Mets will be bringing in Mullins from Baltimore for a trio of prospects. Mullins is a free agent at year’s end but will give the Mets a true, every-day option in center. 

In exchange, the Orioles are getting RHP Raimon Gomez, RHP Chandler Marsh, and RHP Anthony Nunez, three pitching prospects. 

Mullins’ value to New York

Mullins seemed to be the Mets’ second choice throughout negotiations. For much of the past week, New York had been heavily tied to the White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr. Instead, talks with Chicago seemed to come to a halt Wednesday night, paving the way for another Mets-Orioles swap.

These two teams linked up last Friday, when the Mets brought in reliever Gregory Soto. 

In five years as the Orioles’ starting center fielder, Mullins was an All-Star in 2021, enjoying a career year. He accumulated 6.2 bWAR as part of a year that he slashed .291/.360/.518 with an OPS of .878 and a career-high 30 home runs. Since then, he has not lived up to those levels, but is still around a league-average hitter with strong defense in center.

Mullins has played 91 games in 2025, hitting .229 with a .738 OPS. His OPS+ sits at 105 with 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases. While he is not a bona fide star, Mullins gives New York a clear upgrade offensively in center field. 

Despite his overall lackluster offensive stats, Mullins is hitting .321 with an OPS nearing .900 over his last 16 games. Additionally, Mullins has had strong reverse splits. A left-handed bat, Mullins is hitting .298 with an OPS of .866 against southpaws. This should benefit the Mets, who as a team have struggled mightily (.226 average) in such matchups. 

Tyrone Taylor, who is the Mets’ only true center fielder, has posted just a 60 OPS+ this year. Mullins stacks up decently defensively, putting up two outs above average (83rd percentile) while his average sprint speed ranks in the 80th percentile.

While Taylor is a much better defender, Mullins gives them an offensive upgrade without sacrificing too much in the field.

Recently, the Mets had been playing Jeff McNeil in center field, and while he did fine in the new position, Mullins is a native at the spot. Now, manager Carlos Mendoza can bring McNeil back into the infield to keep his bat in the lineup. That move solves a hole at second base, leaving an open battle between Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Brett Baty at the hot corner.

Mullins’ offense may not appear like a huge move, but his offense is still a clear upgrade over Taylor and allows New York to shore itself up elsewhere on the diamond.

If Mullins doesn’t hit, the Mets are back to square one and can always shift McNeil back to center field if two of their young infielders step up to hold down both second and third.

The package going back to Birdland

As was the theme throughout the entire deadline, the Mets upgraded the big league roster without parting ways with any top-five prospects.

Nonetheless, Baltimore did not go away empty-handed. The biggest piece of the return in Nunez, who was ranked as the Mets’ No. 14 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Nunez was a college shortstop who picked up pitching late. He has been outstanding with the Mets in his first full professional season.

In 40 innings between two levels, Nunez has pitched to a 1.58 ERA and struck out 60 batters. 

Beyond him, Gomez is a fireballing reliever who has been up to 104 on the radar gun. He has struggled with control, walking 25 batters in 35 innings this season.

At 23 years old, he pitched to a 0.69 ERA in Single-A, but posted a 6.95 mark in 22 innings at High-A. He briefly entered the Mets’ top 30 prospects after New York’s pair of trades on Wednesday, but now finds himself out of the organization.

Finally, Marsh is a reliever who was unranked in the Mets system, but pitched to a 2.57 ERA between two levels of A-ball in 2025. 

As the deadline has officially passed, with Mullins being the Mets’ final move, their goal was clear: add impact players in areas that needed improvement, without hampering the farm system.

New York added three quality bullpen arms and arguably the best center fielder that ended up being traded without sacrificing a prospect that was ranked higher than sixth in their system, according to Just Baseball. 

While President of Baseball Operations David Stearns was unable to land a starting pitcher, he left the door open to potentially using top minor league arms Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat before the end of the season.

Outside of that option, the Mets’ roster is now set for the stretch run, as they position themselves for a push for their first World Series in nearly 40 years.