Orioles send mullins to the Metropolis and Morton to the Tigers and get a bunch of pitchers in return
While many predict that the Orioles’ weaker starter rotation and general inactivity in the offseason will once again bother them, even Baltimore’s biggest skeptics have not predicted that the team’s playoff positions at the end of July were not in the .500 and 7.5 games. For example, the Orioles will be about one-third of their lineup on this year’s trade deadline deadline. Over the past week or so, O’s has traded Relievers Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge with infielders Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Urías. Then on Thursday afternoon, Anthony Dicomo reported that Cedric Mullins was heading for the Mets. A few hours later, Jeff Passan broke the news that Charlie Morton would join the Tigers. The only healthy free agent not traded from Baltimore is Tomoyuki Sugano, and Zach Eflin hits the IL a few hours before the deadline, Sugano is now a member of the spinning load.
Mullins was drafted by Baltimore in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. He made his club debut in 2018 and has been a full-time starter for O since 2021. Mullins hovered over the league average over the past few years, but he reached his entire season number, riding high peaks and low valleys:
Mullins started strong this season, falling for most of May and June before rebounding in July. Whether he can sustain his success in August and beyond remains an open question, but perhaps even more uncertain is whether Mullins will maintain his newly discovered reverse scattering. Over his career, Mullins released a typical split of left-handed batsman, giving 84 WRC+ to left-handed pitches and 115 WRC+ to right-handed pitches. But this season, Mullins has 143 WRC+ for left-handed and 89 WRC+ for right-handed. Mullins made some adjustments to his position, which could be the source of the sudden reversal. He placed himself slightly in the box, slightly closer to the plate. His feet are closer, but his stance is more open, which may make it easier for him to track the court thrown from the left. His current setting in the box is similar to his position starting in 2023, and it is the only season in his career to see Mullins post-neutral sliver.
His sliver may have a big impact on how and when the Mets deployed Mullins, but that’s not because the midfield situation is special. Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor split time in the New York Center in recent weeks, but the time division was not based on the hands of the starting pitcher. Instead, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza chooses between McNeil’s Bat and Taylor’s gloves every day. McNeil released 126 WRC+ while playing on Diamonds this year, but his limited range means he is a slightly negative contributor to FRV in the outfield. Taylor, on the other hand, has a WRC+ of 58, but despite having much less time than his peers, the midfielder is ranked seventh in FRV. Mullins basically allocated the difference between the two, with a much better range in the outfield than McNeill’s range, but the arms are particularly weaker than Taylor.
So Mullins not only meets the Mets’ need for a more complete midfielder; he also addresses their need for better hits with left-handed pitching, at least likely. As a team, the Mets ranked 114 against right-handed + right-handed and fifth in the Grand Slam. But around the corner, the Mets ranked 18th with WRC+ of 90. If Mullins’ 2025 slits are new normal, it makes sense to get him to start to the left and left, let McNeil get McNeil back to the infield where he can spell the Brett Baty in the second or Ronny Mauricio, as both beat Southpaw in the third or Ronny Mauricio. For the right, Mendoza will have the flexibility to place her roster on a more specific game side and assign off days as needed.
Mullins joined rescuers Gregory Soto, Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers as the deadline for New York. For now, the Mets have a half-court division lead in the Phillies, who currently have a second NL wildcard and have taken similar moves in recent days to enhance their bullpen and outfield options. While it’s coupled with Mullins might feel the Mets are making picky adjustments to an already strong roster, they can look for whatever marginal gains a player like Mullins offers in a tense race against competitors who also strive to be better.
As a result, the Mets sent three reliefists to the Orioles who seemed to realize they might need to restock after trading four bullpen members, who have collectively thrown nearly 150 innings so far this season. (That’s not actually why, as only one of these pitchers was in the Grand Slam, but I like the image of Mike Elias stopping at Royal Farm on his way to work and then like he wandered to the office, Sm head, because he forgot to pick up a few rebrands in the store because he picked up a few substitutes in the store.
Nunez was originally a shortstop selected from high school and later converted to pitching, rapidly growing to Double-A in two seasons and 50 innings. According to his recent prospect report, courtesy of Eric Longenhagen, his performance is an impressive slider with well directed to survive high rates at the major league level. “Nuñez isn’t that hard, but he has a good cutter that gets the batsman off the fastball, and he’ll occasionally replace the occasional sinking change. He’s totally dominant all year round, and it’s a virtual lockdown that can be topped with a 40-man roster this offseason,” the report continued. According to the assessment, he has a great chance to join the Baltimore bullpen next season.
The other two pitchers are more in the Fratrov category at the altitude. According to his report, Marsh is an undrafted free agent in Georgia, “thriving in Brooklyn due to his vertical slider and a 94-97 mph fastball.” Similarly, Gomez struggled to direct the high-speed fastball. His heater sat at 97-103 mph. His report quotes: “His arm speed breaks the sound barrier and when his delivery is synchronized, Gomez approaches the possibility that humans and baseball can do. [But] His idea was zero idea and threw a lot of non-competitive balls, especially when he threw a 90s slider, he had a strike of less than 60%. “The report further points out that Gomez is unlikely to be as effective as Aroldis Chapman, but (this is my current editor), this speed will almost certainly give him enough chance to try.
The Orioles ended their deadline deal by sending Morton to the Tigers. Morton signed a year-on-year, $15 million deal with Baltimore. After showing few signs of aging in recent years, the 41-year-old took a step back this season and even agreed to throw a spell from the bullpen in May. The break from the beginning seemed to make Morton a little nice, he was able to rebound after April’s brutal April and recorded some production bureaus in May and June, but his July has returned to his April. In order for the Tiger to get the production bureau from Morton, they need to help him adjust the curveball. The court added a few inches of glove direction movement, affecting his commands and ability to generate ground balls. As a result, the batsman beat .398 on the curve this year, compared to .309 in 2024.
The Tigers may see Morton as an insurance policy, with a pitcher able to alternate between the field and the innings of long-term relief from the bullpen. Morton joined Sawyer Gipson, Alex Cobb and rookie Troy Melton to join the fifth starter. Both Gipson-Long and Cobb were injured on an uncertain timeline. Melton had just two starts in the Grand Slam, giving up six runs in five innings against the Buccaneers before throwing seven points against the Diamondbacks. While Melton is highly valued, it ranks 70th on our recent Top 100 Prospectus list and 5th in the Detroit system, but it makes sense for the Tigers to avoid putting too much pressure on someone with 12 innings in the majors.
But Morton is not the only pitcher in Detroit. After Reese Olson had end-of-season shoulder surgery a few days ago, the Tigers replaced Chris Paddack, although the Tigers clearly felt that it would be better when it comes to pitching. With Morton and Paddack folding, Detroit also strengthened the bullpen at the deadline and added reliefists Luke Jackson, Codi Heuer, Kyle Finnegan, Paul Sewald and Rafael Montero.
In exchange for Morton, Detroit sent 6-foot-7 left-hand rescuer Micah Ashman to Baltimore. Ashman was drafted in the 11th round of the 2024 draft after setting an all-time record in Utah. He threw 39 1/3 innings at High-A before he was promoted to Double-A last week, where he also recorded three innings without divisions. Ashman is not allowed to home runs throughout the year, beating batsmen with 30% cuts in pro balls and walking less than 6%. He threw a 90s fastball, a slider as low as 80s and a replacement for splitting his fingers. Both sliders and switches produce a lot of swings and mistakes. He creates deception by combining his height with the trendy in the best delivery. When I asked Eric about Ashman’s arsenal and future profile, he fixed him as the middle relief.
After a rather quiet offseason season, both the Orioles and the Tigers have gradually become shooters in the deadline and have gained as many players as possible, hoping for some now or in the future. Meanwhile, the Mets are very aggressive offseason ahead of the deadline and they are able to make more targeted moves to improve margins. But, as we all know, procrastination does not prevent success—although this may lead to delays in the Orioles—and preparation does not guarantee victory.
