Orioles trade fan favorite Trey Mancini to Astros

The Baltimore Orioles are just three games out of the third wild card spot, but they just traded one of their best hitters and the club’s longest-tenured player.

In a long-expected move for the still-rebuilding Orioles, first baseman/outfielder and fan favorite Trey Mancini was traded to the Houston Astros as part of a three-team deal on Monday afternoon. Baltimore received a pair of pitching prospects in return.

Despite the Orioles’ resurgence since calling up top prospect Adley Rutschman in May, trading a player as revered as Mancini is evidence that the front office is not in win-now mode and is still prioritizing the club’s rebuild. Mancini is a free agent this offseason, making him a prime candidate to be dealt at the deadline. 

“We feel a championship window is opening, and we have an opportunity to seek players at this point in time that may contribute to that window,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias told reporters Monday evening, according to The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz. 

“I believe, having made this trade, the organization is stronger,” Elias added. 

Mancini broke out with the Orioles in 2017 — one year before the organization’s rebuild began with a 47-115 record in 2018. He finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 after hitting .293 with 24 home runs. 

For the duration of the rebuild, Mancini has been the face of the franchise, and one that was widely appreciated by fans despite the team’s abysmal record. But, after hitting another 24 homers in 2018 and a career-high 35 long balls in 2019, Mancini was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in March 2020. He missed the entire 2020 season as he underwent chemotherapy to treat his cancer. 

He returned to the field last season, hitting .255 and 21 home runs in 147 games for the struggling Orioles. He was selected for the Home Run Derby, making it all the way to the finals before losing to Pete Alonso. 

Mancini, 30, has been a cog in the middle of Baltimore’s lineup this season with a .268 average and 10 home runs. The Astros, who were reportedly in the market for Nationals first baseman Josh Bell, were shopping around for a bat at the deadline and landed on Mancini. 

Mancini, who has never appeared in a postseason game, will almost certainly make his postseason debut in October, as the Astros are in first place in the AL Central with a 67-36 record. His last at-bat as an Oriole at Camden Yards was an inside-the-park home run, and the fans later called him back onto the field for a curtain call.

In possibly his last at bat as an Oriole in Camden Yards….. Trey Mancini hits an inside the Park Home Run

How can you not be romantic about baseball. pic.twitter.com/615ZrcDnY3

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 28, 2022

“I always said I wanted to see the rebuild through and I feel like, in a lot of ways, I have,” Mancini told reporters after the trade, per The Baltimore Sun. “I think things are only going to get better here, and besides when I’m playing against them, I’m always gonna be rooting for these guys in here.”

Elias didn’t rule out the possibility of the team bringing Mancini back in the winter. 

“I’m looking forward to what we can discuss with Trey Mancini as a free agent,” he said, according to Ruiz. 

In return, the Orioles received two pitching prospects: right-hander Chayce McDermott from the Astros and right-hander Seth Johnson from the Rays. McDermott was Houston’s No. 12 prospect, and Johnson was Tampa Bay’s No. 6 prospect, according to MLB.com. 

McDermott, 23, was drafted in the fourth round of last year’s draft. He’s 6-1 with a 5.50 earned-run average and 114 strikeouts in 72 innings in Single-A this season. Johnson, meanwhile, was the 40th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He had a 3.00 ERA and 41 punchouts in 27 innings this year before recently tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. He’s set to undergo Tommy John surgery this summer.