Well, I had typed out a much-too-long post this morning and it got eaten alive by FanGraphs' impossible website crashing my computer. Maybe that's for the best.
The tldr; was that I read something about Chisholm preferring to move back to the infield, though maybe that's just PR from his and/or the Yankees camp. In a lot of ways, he was the perfect imperfect candidate, since there are questions about consistency and health but still real upside and he'd be better than what we have.
Regardless, the important thing is that we have nobody to play CF, right now or next year. Suwinski seems like the guy the FO wanted in that spot headed into the year, but he's tumbled off a cliff for now. I think there are two options:
1) do what mediocre/bad teams all start doing around this time of the year and find out what you have with the best internal option. With Suwinski failing, that's Bae. He's hard to get a read on because of the injury, so maybe this has been plan B all along and we're going to at least try it out for the next few weeks. I have no clue how he's looked defensively in Indy, but he's at least hit the ball there.
I think he profiles much better as a utility player who can mix and match at 2B and the OF spots depending on how you use him that day. He needs to use his speed better to fully fill that role, but you saw a glimpse of how he can impact the game with that bunt yesterday, which arguably was the main catalyst for winning the game, as the pitcher unraveled after it. If he had made the play to get Bae out at first (probably unlikely), then maybe he just gives up a sac fly and the Dbacks win.
2) make a trade. I've seen people mention Yaz, but he's 33 and hasn't played CF this year. Lane Thomas also doesn't seem like a great option defensively. Pham is a total stopgap and he's what many seem to think is inevitable for us. Honestly, I don't know how much I like Bae, but I'd rather just give Bae some rope than get Pham for CF. I guess the flip side is that the OF is so thin that we can acquire somebody and still give Bae fairly regular playing time.
Really, I think the best option here is Mullins, and it's trying to do some quick searches on him which led to my computer crashing (though unsurprisingly, I've now rambled to the same original length). I question whether the Orioles will move him ultimately, but the writing seems to be on the wall that he won't be back in 2025. I don't think they are sentimental, but he's a long-tenured player and on paper a Mullins-Pache platoon makes some sense and gives you pinch hit and/or run possibilities in the playoffs.
If Mullins is available, I think he's well worth taking the shot on. He's got a 122 wRC+ since June 1st, which puts him in the top 10 among regular CFs. He'll be in a contract year next year, so assuming he can remain viable, you might get a bounce back to something closer to his earlier self with something to prove.
The Orioles need pitching, and I still think something like Chapman for Mullins could be a baseball trade that makes sense. My caveat would be that I'd like to push for one of the controllable OFs they have a glut of as well. I think Mullins + Stowers for Chapman + Priester could have be the makings of a fair deal on both sides. Priester isn't starting any playoff games, but they probably have a fine enough trio in Burnes/Rodriguez/Eflin. Priester and Stowers seem about equal to me. If the Orioles were to insist on Holderman over Chapman, then I think I'd still gladly pull the trigger and just try to keep developing more bullpen arms -- we'll have Moreta back next year, and Burrows could be a real threat as a leverage arm.
Honestly, I'd say that at this point, Mullins is close to the top of my wish list -- with the exceptions of Robert (no chance in hell) and Rooker. I've finally become fed up enough with the offense that I just dgaf about Rooker being terrible in the field. We need offense or we won't get to the point of a defensive blunder hurting us. I do believe the reports that Oakland is content to basically stand pat, but I also think it could be a smokescreen. Oakland doesn't care about fan perception at all, and Rooker is a DH who likely won't be as good if we want to go on and say that Oakland could return to its former self and flirt with WC spots in two years.
Still, value-wise I would be uncomfortable with trading either Chandler or Johnson for Rooker. I think that would be a panicked overpay and you'd have to be certain that Rooker would become a lineup mainstay for his remaining years at basically the same level of play. If Oakland was willing to take Harrington and some others, maybe Peguero or Bae as a second or third pick, then I could be fine with it, though I would guess prospect hoarders don't even like giving up Harrington. Oakland has made that kind of quantity type deal in the past where they get 4 probable major leaguers for 1 guy, but the x-factor here is that the 1 guy in question is still super cheap.
In any case, I guess I've recreated what the crash stole from me and then some. Mullins would represent a somewhat hopeful stab at solving the major problem on the roster right now. Mostly, what I am dreaming about is a surprise trade to the Orioles for one of their top guys (if we pulled off Mayo for Bednar, I'd throw a parade), but I guess I'll conclude with saying that if Mullins is traded elsewhere, I will be disappointed. If he's ultimately not traded, I'll just assume the rumors around him were smoke without flame. But as it stands, even though he had a rough start to the year, he's the guy who could fix the biggest problem on the team, again only if he does so imperfectly.