As the Phillies chase their fourth straight playoff appearance — not to mention the National League East-leading New York Mets, who have already opened a 4 1/2 game gap at the top of the division — they have at least one glaring need. Namely, an outfield upgrade.
Philly has compiled a respectable record of 16-13 record to open the season, but to close the gap with the 21-9 Mets it will need more than the mediocre offensive output they’re getting from outfielders Max Kepler (.731 OPS), John Rojas (.712) and 13-year veteran Nick Castellanos (.760).
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Then there’s Brandon Marsh, who played in 17 games, coming to the plate 51 times and managing all of four hits. Marsh at least has an excuse of sorts. He has not played since April 16, when he injured his knee and was placed on the 10-day injured list. He is currently on a rehab assignment, but is not scheduled to appear in a game until Friday after he felt “cramping” in his right hamstring.
A possible solution to the Phillies’ outfield issues came on Tuesday from Athlon Sports scribe Matthew Sullivan, who proposed Philadelphia explore a trade to acquire Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Cedric Mullins, a 2021 All-Star who, at least through his first 27 games, appears to be putting together a career year.
So far, in 114 plate appearances, Mullins has posted a .954 OPS — sixth in the American League — with six home runs while drawing 20 walks.
According to Baltimore Sun Orioles beat reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer, speaking on Monday’s edition of the “Foul Territory” podcast, Mullins — playing his final year of team control on an $8.725 million, one-year contract — is likely to be available on the trade market.
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“This will almost certainly be his last year in Baltimore, because he’s gonna price himself out, you know, get himself presumably a four or five year contract,” Meyer said on the podcast, adding the Orioles fans might “riot” if Mullins were dealt away, but “I would not rule anything out because of how shrewd this front office is, if they get to the point where they, they conclude that they have no chance of making the postseason.”
The Orioles, at 11-18 and last place in the AL East after 91 wins last season and 101 the year before that, are already looking like a non-playoff team.
What would it take for the Phillies to extract Mullins from Camden Yards?
“The compensation for Mullins wouldn’t be cheap,” wrote Sullivan. “But considering the Phillies are in win-now mode, leveraging multiple top-30 prospects for Mullins wouldn’t be the worst allocation of resources.”
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The Orioles’ primary need is pitching. With a 5.52 staff ERA, Baltimore hurlers rank 29th out of the 30 MLB teams. Only the Miami Marlins at 5.70 have been worse.
The Phillies have pitching prospects to give. Their No. 1 prospect overall is Single-A righty Andrew Painter, who MLB Pipeline named Pitching Prospect of the Year in 2022. He was derailed by Tommy John surgery for 2023 and 2024.
But in his return to the hill this year, the 6-foot-7 Painter, who is still only 22 years old, “showed that in many ways he was the same premium prospect with a legitimate four-pitch mix,” according to MLB Pipeline.
A package of Painter and, for example, No. 9 prospect righty Mick Abel could be enough to persuade Baltimore to part with Mullins. Only 23 himself, Abel was a first-round draft pick, 15th overall, in 2020 and is projected by MLB Pipeline to be big league ready sometime this season.
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