The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the best stories of the 2022 MLB season, defying preseason expectations to enter Tuesday’s play with a 48-48 record and lurk just three games behind the Seattle Mariners in the race for the final American League Wild Card spot.
However, despite the team shocking the baseball world this season, there are still plenty of people who believe the Baltimore Orioles could be sellers at the upcoming MLB trade deadline.
Based on his recent words, Trey Mancini, one of the leaders for the Baltimore Orioles, is among those who are unsure of what’s coming for the franchise over the next few days
In an interview with WJZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore (an interview which you can watch in its entirety here), Mancini said that he is treating the next three or four games (the remaining contests of a four-game home series with the Tampa Bay Rays which ends on Thursday) “like it’s my last ones here, because it could be.”
Here is the entire quote from Mancini on the possibility of these contests against the Rays being his final ones as an Oriole at Camden Yards.
https://t.co/heEULURlQc pic.twitter.com/EIh7BU60fi
— Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) July 25, 2022
If this is indeed Mancini’s final games as a member of the Orioles, it will likely signal the closing of the window on a season that has built so much hope with the Baltimore fan base. The 30-year-old Mancini is not only one of the offensive stars for the Orioles this season, slashing .268/.345/.404 with nine homers and 37 RBI, but also one of the leaders in the clubhouse and most beloved members of the team, especially after making his way back to the MLB diamond after battling colon cancer.
While those all are things Orioles fans love about Mancini, they are also some of the skills and qualities that other teams could use as part of their upcoming postseason push. Interested teams include the New York Mets, a franchise which has been linked to Mancini in recent days.
Mancini played for current New York Mets manager Buck Showalter for three seasons in Baltimore, so the duo knows each other well. There is also a mutual option for the 2023 season in Mancini’s current contract, an option that sources have told Jim Bowden of The Athletic that Mancini will likely turn down.
If Mancini were to walk away from the franchise at the end of the season and the Orioles haven’t offered an extension yet, it could well make sense for the team to try to build upon its young core through a trade. However, that doesn’t make it any easier for Orioles fans who sense a chance that the team could contend for a postseason spot this year to hear Mancini’s words.
What the Baltimore Orioles will do at the 2022 MLB trade deadline is still an unknown, but Trey Mancini is making sure that if these are indeed his last games in Baltimore, he soaks in every moment.