The Orioles have yet to initiate contract extension discussions with Cedric Mullins, but the longtime outfielder is hopeful those come about.

Mullins is set to become a free agent after this season. He has largely focused on his day-to-day duties during the season rather than his future. But Mullins’ agent, Robin Cope, told The Athletic “he wishes they would” initiate extension talks to keep Mullins in Baltimore.

When asked about his desire to stay with the Orioles, Mullins echoed his agent.

“Yeah, 100%,” Mullins said. “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.”

Cope didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Baltimore Banner.

Amid the team’s slow start, the 30-year-old has been a bright spot. He is hitting .300 with a 1.055 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. Mullins leads the Orioles in nearly every offensive category, including home runs (four), RBIs (17), walks (10) and runs scored (10).

The sample is small, but manager Brandon Hyde said this is the best he’s seen Mullins play since 2021, when Mullins broke out for an All-Star season that included 30 homers and 30 steals. Part of that is down to health. Mullins dealt with groin and quad strains in 2023.

“That’s going to be important, to keep him healthy,” Hyde said. “He’s playing with a ton of confidence right now. The at-bats are incredibly competitive. He’s playing with a ton of fire and energy, and the defense is fantastic.”

Hyde said he couldn’t speak for Mullins on whether the contract situation played a role in bringing the best out of Mullins. But Hyde said “he’s motivated right now, probably in a lot of ways.”

The topic of extensions has been at the forefront of many fans’ minds because of the spate of them around the league. In the American League East alone, the Boston Red Sox extended left-hander Garrett Crochet and infielder Kristian Campbell and the Toronto Blue Jays gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a megadeal to remain in Toronto.

In a press conference Tuesday, general manager Mike Elias said the Orioles are working behind the scenes on extensions. There are many considerations at play, however.

“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. We’ve got some really good ones, and on top of that, we’ve had a very recent ownership change after a kind of protracted thing during a rebuild. These guys [owners] are great, but they’re relatively new. 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.”

The Orioles will also balance the potential of prospects in their farm system who could supplant Mullins. Enrique Bradfield and Vance Honeycutt are center fielders who are considered potential options in the near future.

Mullins isn’t the first long-time outfielder to express his hope to remain an Oriole. Ahead of the 2024 season, Austin Hays and his agent, Francis Marquez, described their desire to sign an extension.

“Unabashedly, Austin is an Oriole, and he feels that he is young enough and he’s good enough to be a member of the Orioles for a long time, not just the time that he has in the arbitration system,” Marquez said. “So I think in an ideal world, 100%, Austin Hays would like to be a player who just wears an Orioles uniform during his career.”

The Orioles sent Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline. He is now a member of the Cincinnati Reds.