Bowden looks at potential Yankee deals: Mullins to NY?

[Sports Guy]

https://theathletic.com/2617596/2021/05/28/bowden-the-yankees-need-to-be-aggressive-at-the-trade-deadline-here-are-a-few-targets-who-make-sense/?source=user_shared_article
 

Mullins, 26, is having a breakout season, getting on base at about a 37 percent clip with six home runs and six stolen bases in 50 games (215 plate appearances). The Orioles have no interest in trading Mullins and view him as part of their rebuilding core. But the Orioles have so many needs that if you make them an offer they can’t refuse and you’re willing to lose the trade, they won’t be able to say no.

[ChrisP]

When you're this bad, the "not trading in the division" goes out the window. Nice career recovery Cedric...Good Luck in NY. 

[Sports Guy]

12 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

When you're this bad, the "not trading in the division" goes out the window. Nice career recovery Cedric...Good Luck in NY. 

Yep...I’m not holding onto Mullins.  I’m not giving him away either but if a good deal is put on the table, he gone.

[Gentile4]

Ordinarily I'd say that we could just slide Hays into the CF spot, but he's MIA as often as not. The defense is so bad as it is, do we really want to trade arguably our best defender? If the thought is that the team could be competitive in three years, Mullins will be 29 and theoretically still productive. Tough call; I guess we see what they offer.

[sportsfan8703]

It’s a sell high on Mullins. Many of us thought he’d be DFA material at this point. We have Hays and McKenna as CF options going forward. If we could get some SP and/or some IF prospects in return then that would be hard to turn down. 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Gentile4 said:

Ordinarily I'd say that we could just slide Hays into the CF spot, but he's MIA as often as not. The defense is so bad as it is, do we really want to trade arguably our best defender? If the thought is that the team could be competitive in three years, Mullins will be 29 and theoretically still productive. Tough call; I guess we see what they offer.

Well it depends on how much you are buying into this start for Mullins.

He isn’t as good as his numbers showed in April, that we know. 
 

Still, if he can be a 750-800 OPs guy playing solid defense, he’s very valuable and perhaps a guy you want to keep.

OTOh, if/when the league adjusts to him and he is a sub 720 OPs guy, he’s not as valuable/hard to replace.

[Can_of_corn]

34 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

When you're this bad, the "not trading in the division" goes out the window. Nice career recovery Cedric...Good Luck in NY. 

Why would Elias have an issue with trading in the division?

 

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Well it depends on how much you are buying into this start for Mullins.

April: .337/.387/.545

May: .253/.346/.385

I’d say the May performance is much, much closer to the real Mullins.    Still, that’s not bad at all. I’d sign for it in blood, to be honest.     Especially the .346 OBP.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

April: .337/.387/.545

May: .253/.346/.385

I’d say the May performance is much, much closer to the real Mullins.    Still, that’s not bad at all. I’d sign for it in blood, to be honest.     Especially the .346 OBP.

Right although I would be surprised if he can maintain an OBP that high.

But if he can, he’s very valuable.  
 

If I had to guess, you don’t trade him in July.  Hard for me to believe that a good trade will be out there.

Of course, you also run the risk of getting nothing for a guy who could easily be a DFA candidate next year.  

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Why would Elias have an issue with trading in the division?

 

June 15, 1976: Traded by the New York Yankees: Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, Scott McGregorand Dave Pagan to the Baltimore Orioles for Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman and Grant Jackson.

Enough said.

 

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Right although I would be surprised if he can maintain an OBP that high.

But if he can, he’s very valuable.  
 

If I had to guess, you don’t trade him in July.  Hard for me to believe that a good trade will be out there.

Of course, you also run the risk of getting nothing for a guy who could easily be a DFA candidate next year.  

I agree that a .346 OBP is probably a little optimistic.   

I think the one thing about Mullins’ 2021 performance that is definitely real is that he’s a better hitter vs. LHP as a LHB than he was as a RHB.    He has cooled off significantly in that regard, but he was just pathetic as a RHB against lefties, and you can just see by watching him that he’s more comfortable as a LHB and that he hangs in there very well vs. LHP.    So that makes him a better player than I thought he was going into this season.  

I don’t think he’ll be a DFA candidate any time soon.   

As to trading him: I’m not anxious to do it, but as always, it depends what’s offered.    


 

[wildcard]

The Yankees can go pound sand.

The O's have Adley, Grayson, DL, Baumann and probably Bradish on the team next year.  Elias needs to add some infielders on short term contracts this off season and the O's have a winning team.

Mullins is a part of that.  I'd keep him.

[Gentile4]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

June 15, 1976: Traded by the New York Yankees: Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, Scott McGregorand Dave Pagan to the Baltimore Orioles for Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman and Grant Jackson.

Enough said.

 

Was Elias even born in 1976?     For a team like the O's, trading with the Yankees, or the Red Sox, makes perfect sense. Those teams are going to add roster pieces with or without the O's. If we can get better at the same time, then it makes sense to trade with them. BTW, I'm not advocating trading Mullins.

And don't forget the 17 player trade the O's pulled off with the Yanks in the early 50s. Those days are gone.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Gentile4

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I agree that a .346 OBP is probably a little optimistic.   

I think the one thing about Mullins’ 2021 performance that is definitely real is that he’s a better hitter vs. LHP as a LHB than he was as a RHB.    He has cooled off significantly in that regard, but he was just pathetic as a RHB against lefties, and you can just see by watching him that he’s more comfortable as a LHB and that he hangs in there very well vs. LHP.    So that makes him a better player than I thought he was going into this season.  

I don’t think he’ll be a DFA candidate any time soon.   

As to trading him: I’m not anxious to do it, but as always, it depends what’s offered.    


 

He definitely looks more comfortable vs lefties.  But we also have to see if that keeps up. 
 

That is largely a flukey thing in any given season.  Some guys, over a career, show you that they are very good vs lefties or righties in the sample size is so small, especially against lefties, that any given season isn’t a good indicator of anything.

It’s why it’s so dangerous to have an attitude on Mullins in either direction right now.  He clearly looks better than he ever has and prior to 2019, his MiL numbers were very good.

But 2019 and 2020 did happen..May of 2021 has happened (that’s a good player but a far cry from a must keep).  
 

Right now, people are hanging onto April of 2021 and what he did in the minors 3-5 years ago, as reason to say, no way he should be dealt.

It would also be wrong to dismiss him And act as if he will revert back to 2019 and 2020 because he has more confidence now and ditching switch hitting appears to have been a smart move that is a potential game changer for him.

One thing is for sure..he’s not untouchable And you shouldn’t have to be “blown away” to trade him.

[Frobby]

My default position when trying to project how a minor leaguer will do in the majors is to look at their minor league OPS and subtract 35 points.   Obviously that doesn’t hold true in every case, and there are reasons to adjust that expectation based on, for example, whether a player was extremely young or old for the leagues he played in during his minor league career.    

So, I look at Mullins with his .749 MiL OPS and I’d expect him to be a .714 major leaguer.    Maybe I give him a bump up because he’s stopped switch hitting.   But overall that’s about what I think he’ll be.