One of the best parts of the MLB trade deadline is trying to get used to everybody being on a new team. Often, there’s a guy who looks really, really weird in his new uniform. I’m not sure we have that this year. But we have two contenders, so we’ll proceed with this exercise anyway.
The first is Trey Mancini.
Mancini’s tough because, while we’ve never seen him in anything but an Orioles jersey, not a lot of people watch Orioles games. He’s been a big story at times, but never a sport-wide star. Also, the color scheme difference between the Astros and Orioles isn’t that large. Lot of orange in each.
The second is Josh Hader.
Hader’s tough because, while we’ve never seen him in anything but a Brewers jersey, he looks a lot like a San Diego Padre, which is to say he looks like he wants to skateboard at all times. Also, again, not the biggest shift in color scheme. Dark primary, gold as the secondary, this isn’t Johnny Damon going from the Red Sox to the Yankees.
We’re going with Mancini as the weirdest, and this is why:
The vibes are crucial.
Mancini has, for the last few years, been firmly on the side of good in its eternal rivalry with evil. He beat cancer, he played for the Orioles, it’s hard to do either of those things and be seen as the bad guy. Doing both? That’s a feel-good fielder right there.
The Astros, meanwhile, are about as committed to evil as such commitments go. When thinking of evil enterprises, the list goes: Putin & Co., Jinping & Co., the Houston Astros, Kim Jong-un. If you cheer for the Astros, you are likely on a watch list, and that likely precedes your Astros fandom. Water finds water, and whatnot.
So, not the weirdest ever, but definitely this year’s weirdest. Mancini’s going to be so confused when the Astros are beating up a defenseless baby animal in the clubhouse and laughing uproariously about it.
