The wound is still fresh. When the Orioles traded Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros on Monday, the deal may have made all the baseball sense in the world, but it still hurt. Not just because Mancini was a steady top-of-the-lineup bat in an offense that has often struggled to put up runs. Not just because, with the O’s just three games out of a wild-card spot, the deal was a signal that even the front office had given up on the team’s playoff chances this year.
Most of all, the trade stung because over a career in Baltimore spanning parts of six seasons and bridging the last competitive O’s team in 2016 and the start of a new one now, Trey Mancini had become the face of the franchise, a fan favorite endeared to the city of Baltimore because of his relatability, his character and his generosity, and the emotional heart of the clubhouse to boot.