Astros decline options for Will Smith, Trey Mancini

The World Series champion Houston Astros announced Wednesday that they declined their 2023 options for first baseman Trey Mancini and left-handed reliever Will Smith. Mancini had a $10 million option with a $250,000 buyout and Smith had a $13 million option with a $1 million buyout. Both players will enter free agency. Mancini, 30, batted .176 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 51 games with the Astros after being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in a three-team trade on Aug. 1. He was 1-for-21 at the plate with one RBI in eight postseason games, but his stellar defensive play at first base in Game 5 of the World Series helped to preserve Houston's 3-2 win in Philadelphia. Mancini is a career .265 hitter with 125 home runs and 372 RBIs in 752 games with the Orioles (2016-19, 2021-22) and Astros. He missed the 2020 season while battling colon cancer. Smith, 33, was 0-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 24 relief appearances for the Astros after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves in an Aug. 2 trade for right-hander Jake Odorizzi. Smith is 31-34 with a 3.59 ERA and 91 saves in 513 games (17 starts) with the Kansas City Royals (2012-13), Milwaukee Brewers (2014-16), San Francisco Giants (2016, 2018-19), Braves (2020-22) and Astros. He was an All-Star in 2019 and won a World Series with Atlanta in 2021. The Astros also said that star third baseman Alex Bregman will not require surgery for the fractured left index finger he sustained on a slide into second base in the eighth inning of Game 6. Bregman, 28, remained in the game in the ninth inning as Houston closed out the win over the Phillies. Also, catcher Martin Maldonado will undergo surgery to correct a sports hernia. Maldonado, 36, started 11 of Houston's 13 postseason games. --Field Level Media