Orioles to trade star Trey Mancini in coming weeks?

Last year's Home Run Derby runner-up, Mancini has spent his entire career with the Orioles since being selected by the organization in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft. Following a five-game stint with the big-league club in 2016, Mancini became a Baltimore regular in 2017, finishing the year with 24 home runs, 78 RBIs and a still-career-high .293 batting average.

The Winter Haven, Fla., native finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, only behind Aaron Judge and Andrew Benintendi. In a career-high 156 games in 2018, Mancini posted 24 home runs and 58 RBIs, but his best season came in 2019.

That year, Mancini registered career-best marks in home runs (35), RBIs (97), runs (106), hits (175), doubles (38), on-base percentage (.364), slugging percentage (.535) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.899). The 30-year-old was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer during the spring of 2020 and missed the entire pandemic-shortened campaign.

Mancini announced that he was cancer-free in November 2020, made a triumphant return to the diamond last season and collected 21 home runs and 71 RBIs while recording a .255/.326/.432 slash line. He was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year after the season.

"(Orioles general manager Mike) Elias isn’t publicly discussing a Mancini trade, of course. In a video conference with media Wednesday, Elias tap-danced around whether Mancini will be in his Opening Day lineup," Connolly wrote. "'I appreciate the question. It’s a valid one. We are, as we always do, having ongoing -- whether light or heavy -- trade conversations about players on our roster. It’s not exclusive to the Orioles, by any stretch,' Elias said. 'And that continues. But given that we’re now into the arbitration hearing window or process, again, I don’t want to sprinkle out any info about trade discussions or things like that.'"