As the Braves look for potential options in the left field, they ask the Orioles about Trey Mancini’s availability, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network, who adds that there was “nothing serious” discussed between the two parties up to this point. The interest in Mancini is quite logical for a Braves club that is still looking for an intermediate baton, but may not want to pay the prices necessary to re-hire Marcell Ozuna for a multi-year contract.
Mancini, 28, burst with the best of his career .291 / .364 / .535 showing with the Orioles in 2019, but missed the 2020 season after a frightening diagnosis of colon cancer. The scout underwent surgery and finally emerged victorious in his battle with cancer, announcing in November that he was cancer free after months of chemotherapy. No one can blame Braves for coveting the last two years of Mancini’s team control, but given that context and Mancini’s status as the club’s leader in Baltimore, it would probably be difficult for the O’s to part with him in an exchange before the season . Even if the two sides are involved in serious negotiations, one can imagine that the asking price would be quite high.
There is also the fact that, although Mancini played a lot in the outer corners, he is still a first baseman playing out of position there. This does not fit very well with the Braves, given the presence of Freddie Freeman on first base. Notably, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias told reporters on Wednesday that he expects Mancini to spend much more time on first base in 2021 (Twitter link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com).
While a Mancini switch seems unlikely for several reasons, it probably won’t stop teams from calling. Elias acknowledged on Wednesday that all winning clubs in the league are aware that the Orioles are willing to listen to offers for most of their squad as their reconstruction progresses (Twitter link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). This, however, “does not mean that we are going to do anything,” added Elias.
The O’s, in fact, could make a few more small-scale additions after signing shortstop Freddy Galvis with a $ 1.5 million contract for a year on Tuesday. Galvis, to no one’s surprise, was named the top shortstop by Elias, but the club may still be looking for some versatile internal depth of field to support him (via Kubatko) This is probably largely due to the fact that field player Richie Martin had a broken hamate bone in his left hand while training last weekend and will need surgery to repair the injury.
Based on previous schedules for the same injury, Martin could return in the middle of spring training – assuming it starts on time – but he is likely to be late. Baltimore’s deal with Galvis was already closed when Martin suffered the injury, Dan Connolly of The Athletic points; the timing is purely coincidental.
In the pitch field, the Orioles are still looking to add a fine blend. Kubatko notes that Elias mentioned that the MLB offers for the initial pitchers are on the table for the Orioles, although the GM (as you would expect) did not provide further details. Based on the team’s extremely limited spending and Connolly’s recent report that the O’s actually attempted to postpone the arbitration wages of Mancini and outfielder Anthony Santander, it seems unlikely that they will spend any significant money to update the initial team or bullpen. That said, even a split contract that comes with a 40-man squad slot and a major league salary of around $ 1 million would technically fit the criteria listed by Elias.
Last year, the Orioles hired left-handed Tommy Milone and Wade LeBlanc in low-cost minor league deals to complete the rotation earlier this year. They are not likely to buy in a much more expensive box this time, but there are still a few accessible names remaining in the free agent market.