So, is it worth deflating the clubhouse and alienating a fan base that has had little to cheer about for the past five years to move Mancini for a warm body just because the organization failed to extend him? Does a team that had a $148.6 million payroll in 2018 and an estimated $64 million one this year really need to explore ways to save two months of Mancini’s salary? Or would it be better to keep him, let him finish out the season and hope that these Orioles -like the ones in 2011- continue to play well enough to leave fans with a real hope that better days are coming soon? A trade of Mancini isn’t going to restock the farm system or significantly move the timeline on the team’s rebuild. But multiple rival scouts don’t see any buying team giving up a top-tier or even second-tier prospect for two months of Mancini. There’s interest in him because his price is cheap, and a lot of contenders can use a bat either at designated hitter, first base or potentially outfield. As a rental, Mancini won’t command a top prospect. No, the Orioles shouldn’t trade Mancini because his value is greater in Baltimore right now than it will be elsewhere, even if it’s only for two more months. Not just for the backlash, and oh, the backlash would be relentless for a team that hasn’t had a lot of positive attention in recent years outside of Mancini, who is a cancer survivor and reigning comeback player of the year. ![]() While no one should expect the Orioles to be a playoff team (or buyers) this year, trading Mancini would be a mistake. At the center of it all is fan favorite Trey Mancini, who is a free agent at season’s end (there is a mutual option for 2023, though those are almost never picked up by both the team and player) and a prime candidate to be traded ahead of next month’s deadline. Those Orioles remind me a lot of this year’s team.īaltimore entered Monday’s off day winners of eight straight, bringing energy and buzz back to Camden Yards for the first time in years. They were learning to win, a skill Showalter constantly harped on as something oft-overlooked in the minors and never more important than for a perpetually downtrodden team. That team embraced the role of spoiler - who can forget Robert Andino’s walk off dashing the Red Sox’s playoff hopes? They were a mostly unproven group playing for the following season’s roster spots. Those Orioles went 69-93 in manager Buck Showalter’s first season and finished 28 games back in the division, but posted their best -and only winning month- in September. In 2011, an Orioles team marred in more than a decade of losing seasons was doing something no one expected in September: winning games.
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