Milwaukee Brewers: Should the Crew take a chance on a former Cub?

Nearly simultaneously with their acquisition of Jeimer Candelario, the Chicago Cubs' feel good story Trey Mancini was designated for assignment, should the Milwaukee Brewers take a look at the former Orioles and now former Cubs slugger?

To be fair, calling Mancini a slugger for the Cubs wouldn't currently make sense. In 2023, he has hit just four home runs and currently sports a .234 batting average, .299 on base percentage and .336 slugging percentage. Mancini has had a tough season with Chicago, posting a -1.2 WAR and OPS+ of just 72 while also averaging a career high 29.7% strikeout rate.

Could the Milwaukee Brewers believe in Trey Mancini?

There are two redeeming qualities that could make Trey Mancini worth taking a flyer on for the Milwaukee Brewers. First is the fact that he has a .327 BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Thats certainly a number that is encouraging if he could get his strikeouts down near his career average of 23.5%.

The second is his history. Over the past five seasons in which Trey Mancini was healthy, (he missed the 2020 season due to colon cancer), Mancini has averaged 24 home runs. The Brewers have relied heavily on the long ball in recent seasons and the lack of power in 2023 has shown that the Milwaukee offense struggles often without the long ball.

Additionally, in four of the last five seasons, Trey Mancini has had an OPS+ over 100 and in the only season that wasn't, his OPS+ was 95.

Does Trey Mancini have redeeming qualities that could benefit the Milwaukee Brewers?

Mancini does carry a career .263 batting average, which is nothing to write home about but would slide into fifth on the team for players with over 100 plate appearances in 2023, and even his .234 batting average this season would be sixth for players with over 100 plate appearances, sliding just ahead of currently injured third baseman Brian Anderson.

Mancini could potentially benefit from batting in the Milwaukee Brewers cleanup spot as he is batting .273 in the opening frame of games in 2023. The Brewers as a team are 20th in Major League Baseball with a .241 first inning batting average.

The other big area of help that could benefit the Brewers if they brought in Trey Mancini is batting with runners in scoring position. Milwaukee currently ranks 19th in Major League Baseball with a .250 batting average with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, Mancini is batting a massive .317 with runners in scoring position!

So should the Milwaukee Brewers consider picking up Trey Mancini?

The answer is, probably. This does not mean that Matt Arnold has to add Mancini, but the Brewers front office should 100 percent consider it. If they believe that Mancini can tap into any of the power he showed between 2017 and 2022 it is potentially a massive pick up. If not, Mancini is still better than some of the guys currently on the roster.

The Brewers currently rank 29th in all of Major League Baseball in batting average from the designated hitter spot. Brewers fans have not been at all shy about voicing their displeasure with Jesse Winker and Trey Mancini, even with a low .234 batting average, would still be a better hitting option with more home runs.

So bottom line, the Milwaukee Brewers should at the very least, consider making a call to Trey Mancini's agent.