Red Sox should sign AL East rival's star first baseman after midseason contract opt-out

The Boston Red Sox may finally have a simple path to a first-base solution.

A former AL East rival's star just opted out of his contract with another organization and is suddenly available.

And he's even hitting well right now. That's Trey Mancini, formerly of the Orioles.

Mancini was just in the Diamondbacks' organization at Triple-A Reno, where he was batting .308 with 16 homers.

Mancini didn't get called up by a specific date in his contract, though, so he elected free agency, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

The 33-year old hasn't played in MLB since 2023, but he was once a strong hitter in the middle of the Orioles' order.

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Mancini won't cost much, and he could potentially solve Boston's first base mystery that started when Triston Casas got hurt and continued when Rafael Devers wouldn't learn the position.

The Red Sox do have Kristian Campbell trying to learn first base in Triple-A, but that's always going to be risky.

Mancini knows what he's doing over there and in the box, and he's familiar with the AL East. He's also a strong clubhouse presence and leader.

Boston could do a lot worse than kicking the tires on Mancini.

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