Trey Mancini Has Been Traded To The Astros In The Middle Of The Orioles Wild Card Race And I Am A Mess
You knew this was coming but that doesn't make it any easier. The Orioles have traded 1B/DH Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros for Seth Johnson and Jayden Murray. I don't know anything about either of them. Is it the right move to make as a business? Probably. A guy who is 30, doesn't fit the new ballpark, not going to be part of the future because of his age, limited defensively, and with 3 months until he's a free agent, but this fucking sucks.
Emotionally this is terrible. He really was the face of the franchise, a guy who beat cancer colon cancer, came back and played in almost every game while putting up good numbers and coming in second in the Home Run Derby. I can't put into words everything Trey has meant to the city, I've tried a bunch but I can't. All I can say is that Houston is getting a good baseball player and a great guy. I've known him since 2015 and he truly is the nicest person I've ever met.
How many people do you know who actually WANTED to be on the Orioles, he WANTED to stick around when they were bad, he WANTED to wear the uniform. He talked all the time about wanting to be around for the winning seasons, well now he'll get his chance to play for a ring in Houston. He's so damn easy to root for man, he's just the best. Doesn't hurt that he hits bombs and will terrorize those Crawford boxes, he'll love it down there.
And this quote. Man. He would have never found out he had cancer at 27 if it wasn't for his preseason physical, so this quote hits hard. Part of me is happy he's going to a team that arguably is in the drivers seat for the AL, but I really wanted him to finish his time here in Baltimore with this team. He loved this team, hated the new wall, and loved the city. Again, I know it's a business but this is a fucking gut punch. I know guys on the team are pissed, fans are unhappy, they traded the face of their franchise in their best season in 5 years. It's been hell in Baltimore but one consistency was Trey, now we pray these prospects work out.
Personally this sucks, again I consider myself friends with Trey and his fiancée. I met him back in 2015 in Bowie while he was on the Orioles AA squad, since then he has reached out unprovoked several times to ask me how my special needs brother is and got us batting practice passes and tickets anytime we asked. The amount of stuff he did for our good friend Mo Gaba, the stuff people will never know about, this just sucks. It's stuff like that which connects a player to the city, and man was Trey connected. Houston in getting a hell of a bat too, I'm fully here for Trey hitting a big homer against the Yankees in the ALCS. There just aren't enough words to talk about how great he is and how good he'll be for this Astros team. They got a hell of a leader and a person.
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How cool is it that THIS was his last swing as an Oriole? First career hit in Camden Yards was a homer, and his last hit was one too. We love ya 16, thanks for the last 6 years. Man does this suck.