Mullins traded to Mets for three minor leaguers

The only 30-home run, 30-steal Oriole in franchise history will be playing for another team. The deadline got him, too.

Cedric Mullins has been traded today to the Mets in exchange for minor leaguers Raimon Gómez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh, a source confirmed.

Gómez, 23, is a Venezuelan native who has a combined 4.63 ERA and is averaging 6.4 walks and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings at two Single-A levels. He reportedly hit 104.5 mph earlier this season with his 80-grade fastball. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the Mets' No. 30 prospect.

Nunez, 24, was the Padres’ 29^th-round pick in the 2019 draft out of Miami Springs High School in Miami who enrolled at the University of Tampa after playing two professional seasons as an infielder and being released. He converted to pitching and was the Mets’ No. 14 prospect this year while posting a combined 1.58 ERA and 0.800 WHIP between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. He’s walked 17 and struck out 60 in 40 innings.

Marsh, 22, is a 6-foot-4, 245-pound right-hander with a combined 2.57 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 33 games at two Single-A levels. He’s walked 17 and struck out 52 in 42 innings.

Mullins, 30, is the longest tenured Oriole and one of the more popular players among teammates and with fans. But he’s also a pending free agent on a team that’s selling, and he generated a level of interest that motivated the Orioles to move him.

Scouts tracking him of late were treated to a show. Mullins made a diving catch in left-center on Saturday and stole home runs from Nathan Lukes on Monday and Ali Sánchez yesterday.

There’s also the bat.

Mullins went 2-for-4 with a double yesterday in his final game with the Orioles and went 6-for-10 with three doubles and a homer in the Blue Jays series. He has multi-hit games in four of his last five and posted a .290 average this month.

Injuries, including a pair of groin/adductor strains, have prohibited Mullins from approaching his 2021 All-Star season, when he batted .291/.360/.518 with 37 doubles, five triples, 30 home runs and 30 steals. He won a Silver Slugger Award and finished ninth in Most Valuable Player voting.

The Orioles selected Mullins in the 13^th round of the 2015 draft out of Campbell University and made him the starting center fielder four years later, replacing five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner Adam Jones. Mullins struggled and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in April and then demoted to Double-A Bowie, unable to climb back to the majors.

Mullins didn’t lose the organization’s trust, became established in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and took off.

That was the same year Mullins was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, which he didn’t make public until two years later to avoid deflecting attention from Trey Mancini’s battle with colon cancer.

Mullins leaves the Orioles with a career .249/.318/.425 line, 139 doubles, 20 triples, 101 home runs, 327 RBIs and 139 stolen bases over 783 games. He homered twice on Opening Day this season and drove in five runs, and he was batting .278/.412/.515 through April before slumping.

The Mets will get Mullins in a hotter stage, which improved his line to .229/.305/.433 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs, 49 RBIs and 14 steals in 18 attempts. The 15 homers tie Ramón Laureano for the team lead and he’s first in RBIs. The 14 steals create a three-way tie with Gunnar Henderson and Jorge Mateo. His .738 OPS is third.

“Cedric was here in those ’18, ’19, ’20, ’21 seasons that were ugly,” said interim manager Tony  Mansolino. “And I was here in ’21, so I got to experience one of them. But just to be a part of the turnaround, you don’t ever lose that label. That means something.”

"I love Ced, man," Ryan O'Hearn said yesterday. "I've enjoyed playing with Ced every day. His defense is incredible. He makes it look so easy, man. The best at that, specifically, and center fielder I've ever played with by far. Yeah, Ced means a lot to the organization, a lot to the team. He's been here the longest. Been through a total rebuild and kind of seen all sides of it.

“A lot of love for Ced and I've enjoyed going to battle with him every day." 

Mullins was asked whether the defensive gems would define his legacy in Baltimore.

"I just wanted to leave it all out there," he said. "I try to play hard every single day, regardless of the results.”

MLB.com was first with the trade.