Atlanta Braves might have an opportunity to get this outfielder

He’s a right-handed-hitting outfielder that has hit 35 homers for a terrible team and isn’t yet 29 years old… maybe the Atlanta Braves should inquire?

A red flag went up in Baltimore the other day.  This happened just after arbitration figures were being finalized — and in the days that followed.

Two of their players — Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander — were asked by the club to accept salary deferrals for the 2021 season.

According to theAthletic writer Dan Connolly (subscription required), this was requested in an effort to save the Orioles roughly $1.5 million for the coming season.

This is eye-opening as no one that Connolly could find had ever heard of such a request of an arbitration-eligible player.

But that may tell us exactly how financially bad the Orioles are right now… and there’s even some chatter starting about whether the club itself might soon be available for purchase, though that’s being denied.

"The idea of deferring a chunk of a big-league contract has become somewhat standard. But as one agent put it this week, trying to do that in arbitration negotiations “is just odd.”"

Perhaps the Atlanta Braves could take advantage of this situation and request Trey Mancini in a deal?

We know the Orioles are still stuck with their albatross contract for Chris Davis — that will pay him $21 million for each of the next two seasons.

The next-highest contract on their books is $15 million for starting pitcher Alex Cobb.  After that comes Mancini ($4.75m) and Santander (either $2.1m or $2.475m, depending on the outcome of an arbitration hearing).

Already, there’s some noise being raised about Santander’s future with the club:

So… if you’re the Braves, why not pursue Mancini?

He’s young, he’s still under the arbitration system for this year and next, he’s still pretty cheap since he opted not to play in 2020 (cancer treatment).

All that said, he should be back at full strength for 2021.

The cancer issue was definitely a setback for him, coming when it did.  Mancini had just reeled off his best full season, which included 35 homers and an .899 OPS.

That’s pretty good for the best hitter on a bad team without protection of any kind.  Oh, and there’s the AL East pitching he was routinely facing, too.

Of course, the NL East isn’t exactly a walk in the park, either, but imagine him in the middle of a Braves’ lineup with hitters all around him.

So what would the Atlanta Braves offer for Trey Mancini?

Maybe less than you’d think, given that they’re clearly trying to save money.  This would not be a case of sending Ender Inciarte, but you might be able to send modest MLB pieces like Johan Camargo or Bryse Wilson in addition to a middling prospect or two.

Frankly, I don’t know that the Orioles would care too much:  their priority would be to clear that salary…. which is relative chump change for anything close to that kind of production at under $5 million… and it’s likely that the teams could agree on some prospect combination.

So whilst we’re still seeing the Atlanta Braves contemplate how to obtain a a mid-order slugging outfielder… one could do a lot worse than Mancini.