Rumors: Texas Rangers interested in Baltimore Orioles’ OF Trey Mancini

Despite being tipped as sellers this summer, the Texas Rangers have shown an interest in Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder, Trey Mancini.

This trade deadline is an interesting one for the Texas Rangers who currently sit out of playoff contention despite an impressive season compared to expectations. With plenty of young players, and their best trade assets, Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, under contract through this season, Texas isn’t in a position to be forced to sell. They’ve been noted for most of this trade deadline period as a club looking for controllable assets and Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder Trey Mancini is the latest link.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted out Tuesday morning an update on Trey Mancini’s market and noted the Rangers among others as interested in the 27-year old.

Mancini is in the midst of another solid season for Baltimore hitting .280 with an .873 OPS through 100 games this season. He’s hit 24 homers for the Orioles this season while driving in 53 runs. Perhaps most intriguingly, he fits the mold of more quality at-bats that Texas is trying to develop posting 96 strikeouts and 34 walks through 434 plate appearances. Perhaps most importantly, he does this from the right side of the plate which could help balance out Texas’ lefty-laden lineup.

Defensively, Mancini has played both corner outfielder spots for Baltimore but predominantly features in right field where the Rangers have been linked with trying to upgrade as Nomar Mazara continues to struggle. Additionally, Mancini has played in 31 games at first base for Baltimore and been fairly solid. This actually seems like a match made in heaven as Texas is exploring options at first after Ronald Guzman was sent back to Triple-A after an abysmal start to the year. Mancini then could offer a long term option in either the outfield or at first significantly upgrading the Rangers’ lineup.

It’s hard to gauge what kind of package it would take to get Mancini. The Orioles are a team in the midst of their own rebuild and while prospects are their main focus right now, Mancini is under contract through the 2022 season meaning he can play a part of Baltimore’s future if they decide to keep him. That ups the price a bit in its own right. Additionally, all three years of control are arbitration years meaning he isn’t likely to have a massive salary, at least for a couple of years.

Just spitballing, but if the Rangers could build a package around say Bubba Thompson and Jonathan Hernandez, I’d be really open to making a move. Both those guys are really high upside but have struggled to take big steps forward. Truthfully I’m just guessing on trade value as there hasn’t been tons of concrete links with Mancini to this point. That being said, I’m a big fan of this pairing and Mancini looks like a perfect fit for the Rangers.