Atlanta Braves: Top 5 outfield targets left to consider

Trey Mancini

When I first put this list together I had Trey Mancini near the top, but with the emphasis that Alex Anthopoulos and the coaching staff puts on defense, I had to drop him to four.

There is no question that Mancini gives you the power bat we are looking for in left field as he’s hit 24, 24, and 35 home runs over the last three seasons. And in two of those years he hit better than .290.

This past season he put together a career-year for the pitiful Orioles hitting .291/.364 with 35 home runs, 106 runs scored, and 97 RBI.

It was his first season with a WAR above three as he finished as a 3.6 WAR player.

But had it not been for his terrible defensive metrics he could easily be a 5 WAR player.

FanGraphs has him with a UZR rating of -5.5 in right field in 2019. And in 2018 when he primarily played left field his UZR was even worse at -8.3.

He actually rates much better defensively as a first baseman with a UZR of 1.9 in 2019 in almost 450 innings.

That certainly makes him more valuable as a back-up for Freddie.

I honestly haven’t watch Mancini enough to know just how bad he is in the outfield, but if he could even become an average left fielder, he has the offensive potential to be an annual 3 WAR player for the three arbitration years he has left.