Cleveland Indians: 3 Orioles trade targets to keep an eye on this series

Trey Mancini

A fan and clubhouse favorite in Baltimore, Trey Mancini would be hard to pry away from the Orioles. However, his contract and age don’t fit into the future plans of the team which could make him a target on the trade market over the next two months. After returning to the field following his battle with colon cancer, Mancini’s situation in Baltimore is similar to that of Carlos Carrasco in Cleveland over the last couple seasons.

From Cleveland’s perspective, Jake Bauers and Josh Naylor have been improving the stats produced from the first base position over the last few weeks, but adding an improved player like Mancini to the lineup could be a huge addition in terms of offensive production.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Over 54 games with Baltimore this season, Mancini is slashing .284/.361/.512 with 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 44 RBI. Not only would that improve first base, but the whole team. He would instantly be second on the Tribe’s roster for doubles, tied for second in home runs and leading the team in RBI. Plus, Mancini’s been able to do that on the league’s worst team. Imagine what he could do when surrounded by guys like Jose Ramirez, Franmil Reyes and Eddie Rosario in the lineup.

The catch with Mancini is that he doesn’t have as much team control left as the more recent returns in trades for the Tribe. He has one more year of arbitration remaining in 2022 and is already making $4.75 million this year. For his stats, that’s a low price but it still might be too high for what the Tribe are willing to bring in.