The Orioles’ exclusive negotiating window with Cedric Mullins is only open for another seven months. So far, they haven’t made any progress toward a long-term deal.
Despite Mullins playing on the final year of his contract, the Orioles haven’t initiated any extension talks, a source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Mullins, meanwhile, has gotten off to a red-hot start to the season, hitting .290 with a 1.104 OPS and a team-high six home runs over his first 19 games.
“Yeah, 100%,” Mullins said of whether he wants to re-sign. “Just being drafted by Baltimore and just knowing what Baltimore and the city offered me and my family over the course of my career has been nothing short of amazing. So, to have those negotiations take place, it’s all in timing. But right now, focused on the day to day of bringing wins to the clubhouse.”
This is a storyline Orioles fans have heard before. Fellow outfielders Anthony Santander and Austin Hays both expressed their desires to remain in Baltimore long term last season, only for the Orioles to trade Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies at the deadline and make a three-year offer to Santander that he said “wasn’t even close” before he landed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
But while Hays’ value was weighted heavily in his glove and Santander’s came from his power, Mullins has proven to be an all-around player when at the top of his game. Since 2021, when he became the first player in Orioles history to compile a 30-30 season, only two players have collected more home runs and stolen bases than Mullins: Shohei Ohtani and José Ramírez.
He’s also put together a highlight reel that’s the envy of even the best outfielders in the game, ranking seventh among center fielders in Statcast’s range-based outs above average metric over that span. Some advanced models don’t paint a strong picture of Mullins’ defense, but his elite sprint speed should allow him to stick there or play at an above-average level in a corner outfield spot well into his 30s.
His overall production has also been elite relative to his position. FanGraphs pegs Mullins with the fourth most wins above replacement among primary center fielders since 2021 at 15 behind only Aaron Judge (34.4), Julio Rodríguez (15.9) and Brandon Nimmo (15.6).
“This is the best I’ve seen Ced play for awhile now,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just the total package. He’s healthy, and that’s going to be important — to keep him healthy. He’s playing with a ton of confidence right now. His at-bats are incredibly competitive. He’s playing with a ton of fire and energy. The defense is fantastic. Love the way Cedric’s playing.”
What might stand in the way of Mullins cashing in this winter is his age — he turns 31 in October — and his decline in on-base percentage the past few seasons. Mullins posted a .360 OBP in 2021 but that fell to .311 the past three seasons. Injuries hampered his production in 2023 as a result of a significant groin strain and he got off to a slow start last year, but over his past five months’ worth of games Mullins has been the Orioles’ second most valuable player behind only Gunnar Henderson.
Yet while executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday that the Orioles were “working on” signing some of their players to long-term contracts, it appears, at least for now, Mullins isn’t one of them.
“There’s guys on this team that we would like to have on this team longer than they’re currently slated for,” Elias said. “It’s not a point-and-shoot thing. It’s case by case. There’s different players, different skill levels, different representatives, different philosophies around how to handle players at different age levels.
“There’s only so much I can say about it other than it’s something we want to do if it makes sense, that we are working on it and if it happens, we’ll be out here talking about it. It’s certainly not something that I can or want to force unilaterally, so we’ll continue to work on it.”
The Athletic was first to report that the Orioles had not started extension talks.
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