A new era: Orioles trade center fielder Cedric Mullins to Mets

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on Jul 31, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — Eight years ago, Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays and Anthony Santander shared an outfield together in Double-A.

“We are the future of this team,” Santander prophesied to Hays and Mullins. Santander was right. The trio survived the Orioles’ painful rebuild, became All-Stars and helped usher winning baseball back to Baltimore.

Now, none are Orioles.

Baltimore on Thursday traded Mullins, the club’s starting center fielder since 2020, to the New York Mets, a source with direct knowledge of the move confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Last year, the Orioles traded Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies and then watched as Santander signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason.

The teams have yet to officially announce the trade, and it’s unclear what the Orioles received for Mullins. MLB.com was first to report the trade.

The Orioles drafted Mullins in the 13th round of the 2015 MLB draft, and he made his debut in 2018 as the heir apparent to Adam Jones. He opened 2019 as the Orioles’ leadoff hitter for the first game of the Mike Elias era, but he struggled so badly that he was quickly demoted to Triple-A and then again to Double-A. After a solid 2020 campaign, Mullins ditched switch hitting in 2021, choosing to solely hit from the left side, and he put up one of the most historic campaigns in Orioles history. The 5-foot-8 speedster compiled the first 30-homer, 30-steal season in club history and was the Orioles’ lone All-Star — one of the few bright spots amid a 108-loss season that kicked off the rebuild.

Mullins, 30, has not been able to regain his 2021 form across a full season because of injuries and streakiness, but he remained an integral part of Orioles teams that made the postseason in 2023 and 2024. Mullins entered this year, his final one before hitting free agency this offseason, as the Orioles’ lone rebuild survivor remaining, and he spent the first month as the team’s best hitter.

But he’s also slumped for most of the past few months slumping and owns a .229 batting average and .738 OPS, though his last homestand as an Oriole featured several vintage Mullins moments — with homers onto the flag court and web gems in center field. He’s also surprisingly rated as one of the worst defensive players in baseball with minus-13 defensive runs saved, though other metrics show less of a decline.

Mullins was the sixth Orioles player to be traded ahead of Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline. Infielder Ramón Urías and relievers Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge have also been dealt.

When the Orioles take the field for opening day in 2026, they’ll have a new center fielder. The last time Mullins, Hays or Jones didn’t start in center on opening day was in 2007.

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