Mancini, Walker Ready Behind Davis
BALTIMORE—By re-signing Chris Davis to a seven-year, $161 million contract, the Orioles raised questions about the futures of minor league first basemen Christian Walker and Trey Mancini.
Is one of them expendable, perhaps leading to a trade? Could they co-exist at Triple-A Norfolk this summer, alternating between first base and DH? Could they try their hand in the outfield?
Walker was the organization’s minor league player of the year in 2014. Mancini won the award last season. They’re two of the top position prospects in the organization, but they’re blocked by Davis.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn’t endorsing a trade.
“It’s like when someone says, ‘Geez, if you like Mancini, why don’t you trade Christian Walker? If you like Christian Walker, why don’t you trade Trey Mancini?’ OK, that’s fine,” Showalter said. “But the other club says, ‘We won’t do that. We don’t like that guy.’
“We all have these convenient trades that we supposedly have a surplus of that can bring back this, that and whatever. It doesn’t work that way. That’s why you see so many three-way trades made with clubs, because it’s easier to work out.”
The Orioles selected Mancini, 23, in the eighth round of the 2013 draft out of Notre Dame. He batted a combined .341/.375/.563 with 43 doubles, six triples, 21 home runs and 89 RBIs in 533 at-bats between high Class A Frederick and Double-A Bowie.
“You could make a case that he had probably one of the top three statistical years of any position player in the minor leagues all over baseball, and some of the people don’t want to give him that credit,” Showalter said.
“He’s got a lot of want-to. He really wants this to happen. He comes from a good family down in central Florida. And keep in mind our complex is in Sarasota. He went all the way across the country to work with Brady (Anderson). He doesn’t even know he’s coming to big league camp yet, but he’s coming to big league camp.”
BIRD SEED
• The Orioles purchased first baseman/corner outfielder Efren Navarro from the Angels in January. The lefthanded batter has hit .246/.303/.324 in parts of four seasons in the big leagues and is known best for his defense at first base.
• Lefthanded reliever Zack Dodson, whom Baltimore signed as a minor league free agent in December, earned a 100-game suspension without pay for a third career positive test for a drug of abuse.
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