The Los Angeles Angels took another flyer on an older player making a comeback attempt as they signed first baseman Trey Mancini, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The news was reported by ESPN via AP.
Mancini has spent most of his eight-year career with the Orioles, and he hit 35 home runs to go with 97 RBIs and a slash line of .291/.364/.535 during his career year in 2019. But Mancini missed the 2020 season after having surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon, and he returned to the lineup and his 21 homers in 2021. He was subsequently traded to the Astros the following season, and Mancini helped Houston win the World Series in 2022.
Mancini was last seen on the field playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2023, and he hit .234 with four home runs over 79 games. He signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins and was released near the end of spring training last year, and after that Mancini opted out a similar deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks during the season. The 33-year-old hit .308 with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs at Triple A Reno, but Mancini wanted to try to catch on with a club that needed help on the major league roster.
The Angels are definitely that, but the positional fit isn’t clear here. The Halos are set at first with Nolan Schanuel manning the position, but there may be a fit for Mancini as a backup. Mike Trout is currently projected to be a full-time DH again despite references him possibly playing the outfield, so there are limited at-bats for Mancini at DH.
There is another connection here, however. Mancini recently spoke glowingly of his work with new Angels hitting coach Brady Anderson back when Anderson was in the front office in Baltimore, so that could be an integral part of this signing, perhaps with the idea that Mancini could even show enough in spring training to catch on with another club that has a positional opening and at-bats available.
Given his numbers at Reno, Mancini will definitely get a long look, and perhaps it’s the Angels who will be able to carve out some kind of backup role for the first baseman. The Angels certainly have needs up and down the roster, and this looks to be Mancini’s final effort to see if he still has something left in the tank before hanging it up for good.