Orioles trade Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros as part of three-team deal

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have traded first baseman Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros, the team announced.

The deal is a three-team trade between the Orioles, Astros and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles will receive two minor league right-handed pitchers, Seth Johnson from the Rays and Chayce McDermott from the Astros.

In addition to Mancini, Houston will receive minor league right-handed pitcher Jayden Murray from Tampa. To complete the deal, Tampa will receive center fielder Jose Siri, who's played 48 games in Houston this year.

One of the headline prospects in the Manny Machado deal, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, was called up to take Mancini's spot on the active roster. 

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Mancini would be tough to replace on and off the field and that the conversation about the trade was difficult.

"Trey has been such an important part of our lives here the last, since I've been here, and a big part of Baltimore and a big part of this community," Hyde said. "And you know it's hard to see someone like him go, just a close friend to so many people.

"It wasn't fun, but happy for him and the opportunity he's going to have, but it's hard to say goodbye."

Although Mancini is set to hit free agency in the offseason, there was some speculation he would be kept for the rest of the season with the rebuilding Orioles sitting at a surprising 51-51, only three games out of a wild card spot.

Instead, Mancini, who's hitting .268 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI, will join a Houston squad with the third-best record in baseball and a 12-game lead in the AL West.

"I always said I wanted to see the rebuild through and I feel like, in a lot of ways, I have," Mancini told reporters in Arlington, Texas, where the Orioles were playing the Rangers on Monday night. "I think things are only going to get better here, and besides when I'm playing against them, I'm always gonna be rooting for these guys in here."   

During a press conference, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said he believes "a championship window is opening" for the ballclub, but ultimately, he has to balance the club's future needs with the present.

"I think when a player is a free agent in nine weeks, you have to consider opportunities to bring in high-upside talent that has the potential to contribute many years down the road," he said.

Although the team has a postseason spot within reach, Elias said the prospect of the Orioles getting one of the three wild cards is unlikely.

"We have a shot at a wild card right now, but it is not a probability that we're going to win a wild card," he said. "We have all different ways of looking at that. And moves that we make that can strengthen our chances for next season and the season beyond, and the one beyond that, are something that we have to continue to consider, despite the tremendous progress that our players have made this year and our coaches have made."

Johnson, ranked the sixth best prospect in the Tampa farm systems according to MLB Pipeline, has seen success across three years. In 2022, the 23-year-old reached High-A, pitching to a 3.00 ERA over seven starts for the Bowling Green Hot Rods while striking out 41 batters in 27 innings. But he is due to undergo Tommy John surgery, according to multiple reports.

Elias described him as a potential Top 100 prospect and said he projects as a future mid-rotation starter.

McDermott, also 23, has struggled in the jump to High-A, posting a 5.50 ERA in 19 games, 10 of them starts, for the Asheville Tourists. But there's also an eye-popping 114 strikeouts in 72 innings.

"His strikeout numbers, his inning totals and his stuff point to a lot of future success," Elias said. "I think we bolstered our pitching depth as an organization."

But the trade was difficult to make given Mancini's status as the longest-tenured Oriole, a clubhouse leader and a fan favorite, Elias conceded.

In an interview with Mark Viviano ahead of the team's recent series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Mancini said he was viewing those four games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as his last in orange and black.

"I do want to treat these next three or four games like it's my last ones here, because it could be," he said. "And that's the reality of it. I want to make sure I don't take that for granted and definitely soak it in."

He also talked about the six seasons he's spent in Baltimore.

"I love this city. And we'll always have a deep connection with the fans in this city no matter what the future holds," he said.

Fittingly, in his last at-bat on July 28, Mancini hit an inside-the-park home run -- albeit one with a little luck; right fielder Josh Lowe lost track of a fly ball and it hit him in the face, sending the ball into the corner of the wall.

The round-tripper came on Mo Gaba Day, marking the second anniversary of the death of the Orioles and Ravens superfan who maintained a sunny outlook and love of sports as he went through multiple battles with cancer.

Mancini formed a friendship with Gaba, and got support from the young teen as he underwent treatment for colon cancer, which sidelined him for all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

"I know [Mo] was up there, smiling and laughing at me running around the bases," Mancini said after the game.

Mancini's final numbers in Baltimore over seven years and six seasons: a .270 batting average, 717 hits, 117 home runs, 350 RBI and a .797 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

In a statement released late Monday night, Mancini said his "love for Baltimore" transcends baseball as it's the place where he overcame cancer, befriended Gaba, and met his soon-to-be wife Sara Perlman.

"A huge piece of my heart will always belong to Baltimore," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.