If the New York Mets could trade for anything right now, it would be the 2024 version of Juan Soto. But maybe they can find some other ways to help their outfield.
Soto might not nab another top-three Most Valuable Player finish, but his highly publicized struggles are more than likely to subside eventually. He's got right field locked down in Queens, but a new center fielder isn't out of the question.
Coming into the year, the Mets had two right-handed defensive specialists in center field--Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri. Siri fractured his tibia, so they're now using Taylor and Jeff McNeil out there.
Though there's certainly a way the Mets could function with their current group, one baseball writer believes New York might eye an upgrade on the trade market.
On Tuesday, R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports named Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins as a possible trade target for the Mets as the Jul. 31 deadline begins to inch closer.
"(Mullins has) mastered the art of pulling the ball in the air, allowing him to outslug his meager exit velocities, and he's successfully stolen bases at an 80% clip for his career," Anderson wrote. "He's also walking more than normal, having reduced his swing rate to a full-season low.
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"What it comes down to, then, is how teams view his defense. A club who believes he's at least average in center could view him as a comfortably above-average talent nearing his date with free agency. Potential fits: Phillies, Mets, Padres."
Mullins, 30, has quietly become a rock-solid center fielder over the past five years. He was an All-Star in 2021, but even over the full sample from the start of that season through 2025, he's put up a .765 OPS and 89 home runs in 627 games.
Mullins is making $8.7 million in his final year of arbitration, and by the trade deadline, the Mets will be on the hook for less than $4 million if they choose to go after him. That makes the deal a bargain from a financial perspective, so it's really all about the prospect package.
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