It’s a foregone conclusion that the Baltimore Orioles will be moving outfielder Cedric Mullins at the trade deadline; a task that would be much more easily accomplished if he was playing up to the numbers on the back of his baseball card this season.

Of course, if Mullins had been productive with the bat this year, perhaps the Orioles would be buyers rather than sellers, though their other fatal flaw — starting pitching — likely would’ve prevented that from happening anyway.

To that second point, Mike Elias has to turn over every stone in order to find pieces that can contribute to the rotation down the stretch and beyond as the July 31 trade deadline rapidly approaches. To that end, he should look no further than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who should be willing to pounce on Mullins and offer up exactly what the Orioles need.

Dodgers line up as the perfect Orioles’ trade partner in a Cedric Mullins deal

As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the premier teams in baseball, but for all the money they’ve spent, they aren’t devoid of holes. Currently, left field has been a disaster for Los Angeles with veteran slugger Michael Conforto posting the worst season of his career out there.

Conforto’s line through 89 games is a paltry .185/.297/.320 with eight homers and some shoddy defense. That package has come together to be worth -0.4 fWAR on the year. Even in his current state, Mullins would be an upgrade, and while he hasn’t hit reliably since the season’s opening month, the O’s outfielder is been known as a streaky hitter whose combination of speed and power can be game-changing at times.

In this hypothetical, Mullins heads out west to solve the Dodgers’ left field woes, and coming back would be starting pitcher Dustin May and pitching prospect Patrick Copen (No. 18 in the Dodgers’ system, according to MLB.com).

May, like Mullins, comes with his share of question marks. With three sub-3 ERA seasons under his belt, May certainly has talent, though his 99 innings pitched this season far exceed his previous career high of 56 back in 2020.

Dustin May and a Dodgers prospect would entice the Orioles to trade Cedric Mullins

A free-agent-to-be, May has been the victim of deep Dodgers rotations, but the true culprit for his lack of experience has been a litany of injuries, ranging from the conventional like undergoing Tommy John surgery to the wild like his 2024 life-threatening bout with a salad.

While his 4.73 ERA this season isn’t incredibly appealing, his past billing as a top prospect and brilliance in short stints make him a worthy dart throw. In addition, the remainder of his $2.135 million salary would be a not-so-insignificant savings for the Orioles, with the rest of Mullins’ $8.725 million heading to Los Angeles.

Saving some cash in a lost season is nice, but more importantly, Baltimore could then audition May down the stretch in order to see if he’d be worth re-signing in the offseason when the Orioles’ starting rotation will surely get an extreme makeover. His lack of experience and relatively poor 2025 campaign to this point should keep that cost down.

Furthermore, the inclusion of a prospect like Copen gives Baltimore another arm in the pipeline to further rebuild the pitching staff. The 6-foot-6 righty started his year at High-A Great Lakes, where he recorded an eye-popping 14.44 K/9 and stellar 2.25 ERA over 10 starts and 48 innings. A big fastball and wipeout slider lead the way for the 23-year-old, but there’s some major fine-tuning needed with his command.

Still, May would give the Orioles a piece to fill out the rest of the rotation for this season and possibly beyond, while, if he can ever figure out how to cut down the walks, Copen could join him in Baltimore’s rotation at some point in the future.