The Mets have acquired outfielder from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Pitching prospects , and are heading to the Orioles in exchange. reported the deal prior to the official announcement. Outfielder/designated hitter has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Mullins. Mullins, 30, will be changing teams for the first time in his career. The Orioles drafted him with a 13th-round pick back in 2015. He got some part-time play in the 2018-2020 seasons without doing too much to stand out, but then had a ma sive breakout in 2021. He hit 30 home runs that year and stole 30 bases. He walked in 8.7% of his plate appearances and only struck out 18.5% of the time. He slashed .291/.360/.518 for a 136 wRC+. Thanks to that offense, those steals and his strong defense, FanGraphs credited him with six wins above replacement. That season now looks like an outlier. He hasnt been able to maintain Tyson Chandler Jersey that level of production but has been a solid everyday player nonethele s. From 2022 to the present, he has hit .241/.310/.412 for a 103 wRC+, indicating hes been 3% better than the league average hitter in that time. But he has stolen 99 bases and still runs the ball down on the gra s. FanGraphs has credited him with 8.8 fWAR in that span, a bit more than two wins per year. Mullins presence on the roster provided a bridge between eras. The Orioles were rebuilding when he first came up. As he broke out, he was a rare bright spot during an otherwise dreary period, with the Os losing at least 108 games in each full season from 2018 to 2021. The club then emerged as a contender, getting over .500 in 2022 and then making the playoffs in the two years after that. However, things have gone downhill in 2025, his final season before reaching free agency. Multiple injuries tanked the club early on. They are currently 50-59 and seven games back of a playoff spot, marking them as clear sellers. They have already traded , , , and . With Mullins being an impending free agent, he was also on the list. For the Mets, Mullins is a sensible addition, as center field has been a question mark for them this year. They began the season with and as their options there. Siri fouled a ball of himself early in the year and suffered a fractured tibia. Hes been on the shelf for almost three months and still hasnt begun a rehab a signment. Taylor has a dismal .201/.258/.295 line on the year. With those struggles, the Mets have been connected to center fielders such as Mullins, , and . The Mets have been using in center field quite a bit. Presumably, bringing Mullins aboard will allow McNeil to move back to his regular second base position. That could perhaps increase the chances of the Mets flipping one of their young infielders. The Mets have been using , , and at second and third base this year. Reportedly, they are open to trading from that group, though nothing has come together yet. Mullins is making $8.725MM this year, which leaves about $2.8MM left to be paid out. The Mets are a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and are over the top tier. That means they face a 110% tax rate on any money they add to the ledger. The taxes will be about $3.1MM, so theyre paying close to $6MM total to bring in Mullins for the stretch run and postseason. Thats a drop in the bucket for them, as they have some of the highest payrolls in the league in recent years. They are also parting with three young players. Gmez, 23, has attracted some attention thanks to his elite velocity. He can hit triple-digits regularly, having even touched 105 miles per hour. However, as often happens with pitchers with this kind of stuff, there are health and control concerns. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 and most of his 2024. He has just 102 innings pitched in his five minor league seasons. He has punched out 28.4% of opponents but also given out walks at a 13.3% clip. He is a project but one with exciting raw talent. lists him as the #22 prospect in the Mets system. recently put him in the #31 slot. The big question seems to be whether or not hell ever harne s his stuff. He hasnt yet climbed beyond the High-A level but has already been eligible for the Rule 5 draft and will be exposed again this winter. Nunez, 24, is a converted infielder. He was drafted by the Padres as a shortstop but got released back in 2021. He took up pitching and landed a minor league deal with the Mets in 2024. Since then, he has climbed as high as Double-A. In 50 innings acro s multiple levels, he has a 1.80 ERA and ma sive 37.5% strikeout rate. He has also walked 11.5% of batters faced, though that high figure is perhaps not surprising for a guy who hasnt been pitching for very long. lists him as the #27 prospect in the system. Their report notes that he throws a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider and changeup. puts him in the #18 spot. Like Gomez, he has already been Rule 5 eligible, so hell need a 40-man spot if the Os dont want him to be exposed again. Marsh, 22, was signed last year as an undrafted free agent. He has thrown 42 2/3 minor league innings with a 2.53 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on their recent list of the top Mets prospects, noting that he has a great slider but a lack of fastball control. Unlike the other two, he wont be Rule 5 eligible until after the 2027 season. For the Os, Mullins was on his way out the door in a lost season, so theyve grabbed a bunch of young arms. They all seem like long-term projects, but the organization presumably feels like theres upside in here which makes it a worthy gamble. For the Mets, none of those arms were likely to help them anytime soon. Since they are in first place and making a run at a title, Mullins helps them today. Winker landed on the 10-day IL July 11th due to back inflammation. This transfer means hes ineligible to return until early September, so it seems the Mets dont think hes close to a return. Photos courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images Dikembe Mutombo Jersey