Trey Mancini has gone unclaimed on waivers and become a free agent, tweets Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. According to his transaction log at MLB.com, he’d been released upon being designated for assignment two days ago.
There was little suspense with this sequence of events after Tuesday’s trade deadline passed. He was DFA to clear space for the recently acquired Jeimer Candelario. As a player with over five years of MLB service, he can decline any minor league assignment while retaining all of his salary. With no trade lined up, Mancini had to go on waivers, where his contract made it a lock he’d be unclaimed.
He’d signed a two-year, $14MM free agent deal in January. The move didn’t work out as he or Chicago had envisioned. His few months on the North Side were among the worst of his career. Mancini hit .234/.299/.336 with only four home runs through 263 trips to the plate. He struck out at an alarming 29.7% clip, the highest rate of his career.
Mancini hit a career-high 35 home runs in 2019 before missing the 2020 campaign after a colon cancer diagnosis. His return to the diamond after beating the disease was one of the sport’s best stories the following season. Mancini spent another season and a half with the Orioles, hitting .260/.334/.421 in a little more than 1000 trips. It wasn’t the impact production of his ’19 campaign but remained slightly above-average offensive output.
Baltimore dealt Mancini to the Astros in a three-team trade at last summer’s deadline. His production slumped in Houston, as he mustered only a .176/.258/.364 line through 186 plate appearances. Mancini collected a World Series ring but didn’t play much of a role in the Astros’ championship run.
The Cubs’ hopes for a rebound didn’t materialize. Mancini carries a .210/.282/.348 slash through 449 plate appearances dating back to last year’s trade. As a player who’s best suited for first base or designated hitter — he’s a below-average defender in the corner outfield — the lack of offensive productivity pushed him off the Chicago roster. The 31-year-old has a career .263/.328/.448 line in just under 3400 trips to the dish.
Mancini is due around $2.2MM through season’s end and $7MM next year. The Cubs will be on the hook for virtually all of that money. Any team that adds him in free agency within the next season and a half would pay just the prorated league minimum salary for time spent in the majors, which’ll come off the Cubs’ ledger. The well-respected veteran is sure to at least find minor league interest and could land an immediate MLB roster spot elsewhere now that there’d be virtually no financial cost for another team to add him as a bench bat.
Back to Baltimore. He has put in his time while they were bad. Deserves some of the upside!
“Deserves some of the upside”..He’s not good enough to help Baltimore or make their roster really. I understand about his former cancer diagnosis and everything, but he doesn’t inherently “deserve” any more than any other player, who’ve also devoted their lives to playing the great game of baseball.
I went to Baltimore games when they were awful. I deserve to be on the 40 man because I actually PAID money to see them.
I deserve this more that him. Especially if you account for inflation.
Appreciate you taking everything I said seriously. We need more of that here on the baseball news comments. Next up please correct some grammar and spelling if possible.
Same to you. Don’t get so uptight about equally lighthearted replies.
more of a yankees move at this point
.. not good enough to help the O’s
Oakland.
He can’t hurt their record- and only has upside making league minimum. If he shows an improvement maybe he has minor trade value in the winter for someone needing depth who is budget or CBT challenged and nets a lottery pick. Best case is he starts next year well and nets an OK prospect as a cheap upgrade around the deadline
There’s no room for Trey until rosters expand. & even at that he’s worse than our 3 current 1B options. I love Trey and the move would be immensely popular here—-I just don’t see the fit.
Mets. They had 5 guys in the lineup that would never have played a Major League game until Tuesday.
No, I don’t want him back
There is no room at the Inn and I never felt he was a clutch hitter
I wish him well, he is a good dude, but he can go elsewhere
I love the guy, his heart, love for the game is up there with the best of them. We just don’t have room for him in Baltimore currently. I’d offer him a triple A spot, and maybe returning home, fighting to be a part of our playoff push may get him back on track. What he could add to a clubhouse, especially ours, can’t be measured. Wish him all the best, and would love to see him accept a minor league deal with us!
I don’t know. My guess would be Cashman is currently blowing his phone up. What will likely happen is he will join the Yankees and turn things around. He will then put up a career year with them next year and Cashman will give him a 4/$60m extension. Then he will bomb for 3 straight years finally getting DFA’d after the 3rd.
Phillies?
Limited to 1B or DH, don’t see the fit with the Phillies.
I was thinking of Trey as a possible Hoskins supplement, but I like Rodolfo Castro better.
He would be an interesting bench bat for a playoff team
Actually, I do understand the sentimental nature around this particular player, but I don’t think too many potential playoff teams are interested in a RH bat, that really hasn’t hit consistently in a long, long time.
I never said he would be starting or playing in significant innings but if a lefty relief pitchers is out there and you need to have a guy that can lift one out he can do that. But on playoff rosters you will see rosters configured a lot differently than a regular season roster you will have specialists like a designated running like a Terrance Gore or an extra Catcher or an extra relief pitcher in place of the 5th starter and you go have teams that will go with a specific Right handed or left handed bat to play the match up game against a reliever and with pitchers having to face 3 batters creates these mismatches.
Besides we have seen guys look dead in the water get released and they play better like Albert Pujols did in 2021 going from the Angels to the Dodgers.
Am ALE team makes sense as thats where he had all his success but he doesnt fit with my jays, Baltimore likely cant fit him either. The Yankees just put Rizzo in the IL so maybe they squeeze him in for 10 or 15 days. Other then that i dont see him with Boston or the rays either
Blue Jays need a right handed bat to spell Varsho/Belt.
If I’m the Phillies I absolutely consider him.
He’s better than Cave. Which is all he needs to be.
Ok, Oswald.
Better than Cave? Cave is a solid 4th OF/defensive replacement. Mancini can’t hit or field.
He’s Uber cheap and used to be a decent hitter with power. Cashman on line 1.
Needs to go to a team with DH at bats to spare. He has looked awful in the field this year.I wish him well but we did the right thing cutting him loose.
With Rizzo taking time off for PCS, he may be in NY before you know it
I want the O’s to get him back, but only after the roster expansion. He can be more of a mascot then if he’s got nothing left
Give another hour to hear the news that the Yankees acquire him.
He will probably need to either accept a minor-league deal or an assignment to Iowa with the Cubs. Prove himself at the AAA level to get another shot.
It won’t be easy but if he still wants to play that’s his best option.
Iowa? The Cubs paid him 10 million bucks to go away. He makes that without ever having to set foot in Iowa. He signed a 2 year 14 million dollar deal and gets the rest of this year and next year guaranteed. Between him and Bote if they played at Iowa they’d have a bigger payroll than the Reds or Pirates. Please
Could see Milwaukee taking him
Cleveland badly needs a RH run producing bat against the disproportionate number of LH pitchers they see – because in turn they have a disproportionate number of LH bats in their lineup and on their roster.
A guy like Mancini would work for 5 weeks. Affordable. They could easily find reps for him at 1B, DH, and pinch-hitter.
The AL Central is the worst division in recent memory, and Cleveland – with a losing record – is only 2 games out on August 3.
Cleveland makes a ton of sense. They haven’t been able to straighten out any hitters this year though. Not sure Trey would be the one.
It’s such a shame seeing so much disrespect from my fellow O’s fans against the man who was a bright spot for us in a dark time.
Very much agreed.
Some fans are shallow, thoughtless, and cruel. I suspect most of the Orioles fans would probably give Mancini an ovation if he were to appear at an Orioles game as an Oriole or as a member of another team.
I’ve never said or heard anything bad about Trey Mancini; by all accounts he’s a good dude, teammate and solid citizen. That being said, he’s bad at baseball and really has been for an awfully long time.
He’s been bad since he left Baltimore. He was a fine hitter for the O’s. They got 2 pretty decent pitching prospects at the deadline last summer.
I don’t know if he was just comfortable or the coaches really had him on track here or some combination of the two but it was odd to see him go downhill in no time when he got to Houston. I thought getting away from that monster wall in LF would be very advantageous for him.
We absolutely would!!
Sad to see as an O’s fan, hopefully he can bounce back next year. I’m sure someone will at least offer him a MiLB deal with ST invite.
I’d love to see Cleveland get in on this guy.
One more guy that I wanted for the RS in the off-season. I’m going to have an ugly accounting at year-end.
Someone is bound to pick him up, would like to see the Orioles, or Giants.
Dear Trey,
Grateful for you and your infectious, positive attitude and efforts in Baltimore for so long. Wish you and Sara all the best!
-Birdland
Cardinals as a bench player!!
The Mets as their right handed DH. Heck, he’s probably better than D Ruf was. They’ll need some veteran leadership when they trade Alonso. ( kidding, but maybe not)
I think the Rays would take him. His hometown is only about an hour plus away from Tampa.
Wil Myers too.
Wishing the best for World Series champ Trey Mancini.
As others stated here, he should go overseas. He would make a lot money. In MLB, he can’t make more, but he could easily get 2-3M in Japan.
Some bottom dweller ought to sign him if only to show their youngsters what it takes to be a big league player on and off the field. Maybe the Pirates? They have a lot of youngsters playing, and on occasions when the opposing SP is favorable, Trey could even slot in at IB or as an occasional DH.
Sure, but that won’t net him any extra salary. His career earnings, while more than either of us will ever make, aren’t infinite wealth. In his shoes, I’d go try and put up good numbers for a year in Asia, collect double pay, and then try to make an MLB comeback in 2025.
Twins will grab him with Kirriloff going down with an injury
I love Trey. A totally classy player and a great human being. I wish him the best.
A lot of 1B free agent signings that haven’t worked out so far.. Jose Abreu, Josh Bell, Mancini, Rizzo.
Cleveland. Could use a vet like him
Sad to see cancer derailed his career. I thought he would bounce back and still be that .270 – .280, 20 HR guy. If he couldn’t get the numbers in Houston or Chicago he may be done.
‘Stros fan here, and I just wanted to chime in and say that Trey had a massive and direct contribution to our World Series.
youtu.be/meTxFCwRKeo
This catch. If that gets by Mancini at best we’re looking at a tied game. Odds are the Phillies take the lead, and head back to Houston one game away. This catch saved the game and almost certainly saved the Series. I’m not trying to be overly critical of the article since it’s a good summary, but his catch is often overlooked because of McCormick’s spectacular catch that happened an inning later and I just wanted to give it the attention it deserves.