Orioles reliever Mychal Givens has reportedly drawn interest from the Phillies and Nationals leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. The Indians, Braves and Dodgers are also among the clubs in on Givens, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link).
With two-plus years’ team control remaining and a $2.15MM salary, Givens stands out as one of the Orioles’ strongest trade chips. Considering the Orioles are caught in what figures to be a long rebuild, it’ll be a surprise if they don’t part with Givens soon. Unfortunately for the Orioles, though, the 29-year-old right-hander hasn’t enjoyed as productive a season as he did over the previous four campaigns.
Through 38 1/3 innings this year, Givens has pitched to an unspectacular 4.23 ERA/4.63 FIP with eight saves on 13 tries and a weak 39.1 percent groundball rate. A large number of the fly balls Givens has surrendered have left the yard, evidenced by his bloated 22.9 percent fly ball rate. That said, Givens has been a lot steadier since his ERA was pushing 6.00 at the end of May. He has also fanned a career-high 12.21 batters per nine (against 3.99 walks), posted a personal-high 15.2 percent swinging-strike rate and kept his 95 mph velocity intact.
As for the the just-reported teams eyeing Givens, interest from the Indians isn’t anything new. They went after Givens last summer, but Baltimore elected to hold him. The Indians’ bullpen has been among the majors’ most effective this year, in part because of lights-out closer Brad Hand. There has been speculation about the Indians trading Hand, but considering their red-hot run, it seems the playoff hopefuls are more interested in adding to their bullpen than subtracting from it.
The bullpens of the Dodgers and Braves – the NL’s two leading teams – haven’t been as successful as the Indians’. Los Angeles and Atlanta have been linked to multiple trade candidate relievers as a result. In addition to Givens, Blue Jays closer Ken Giles seems to be a Braves target. Meanwhile, the Giants’ key relievers (Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Reyes Moronta), Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, Tigers closer Shane Greene Royals lefty Jake Diekman have all been rumored to the Dodgers during their wide-ranging search for late-game aid.
Bullpen war
Pass thanks.
Yeah , who needs a good reliever these days!? amirite!?
His era is over 4 he’s far from a shut down reliever
He, like many pitchers this year, have seen a spike in HRs well above his normal HR rates.
He has a 5.00 ERA with 6 homeruns in 23 innings IN BALTIMORE. As was said, it’s no wonder with the way baseballs are flying out of parks and we all know Camden Yards is one of the easiest parks to hit one out. He has a 2.93 ERA on the road. I think he would fit well in Atlanta.
Givens only has 15 IP on the road this year so its a really small sample. You could argue similarly for his home game stats as well however. In any event, as small as it is, it really IS the home runs that are plagueing him. His slugging against at Camden is .506 while its .315 on the road and even further, if you remove the home runs from the picture his H9 is nearly identical.
Good call Bravesfan.
Dodgers Would probably be better off just standing pat, bullpens Are fickle and unpredictable, Dodger bullpen might figure it out in the next 2 months… would rather see them trade for Trevor Bauer And use Maeda and Urias In Bullpen
I’ve never really heard of this guy. Based on his stats from this season it seems like any team that acquires him would expect him to be serviceable at best. I hope if the Braves acquire him they don’t have to give up much. Hopefully it would turn out like the Anthony Swarzak trade and he performs better than anyone would expect. That’s likely way too much to hope for though.
Wasn’t Swarzak a salary dump? Would have to give up more Givens I would think.
He has had three above average seasons pitching for the O’s in middle relief to high leverage situations. Despite this year has a career 3.37 ERA and 1.14 WHIP while averaging 10.6 SO9.
He is a converted position, throws high 90s. Issue is secondary pitches and fastball location.
Definitely think moving out of that O’s sandbox and moving to a team with a fresh set of eyes from the coaching staff could untap his potential a bit further.
Converted position player*
What I meant in resards to Swarzak is that I hope his numbers turn around in the same way. Swarzak was making $7 mill a year, old, and a pending free agent so I am sure Givens would require more in a trade.
According to Rumors, the Braves appear to have acquired Swarzak for “nothing” (revenue neutral deal since they dealt away Vizcaino and Biddle and brought in cash). GREAT DEAL RIGHT ? Makes you wonder if Givens would turn out to be great in Atlanta given his home/road numbers and possibly getting better instruction (maybe). Can the Braves get lucky twice ?
As far as I’m concerned it’s the most lopsided and acquiring team beneficial trade this season so far. Not base on projected returns but actual gained returns when also considering cost paid. I would love to see someone prove me wrong. Yeah, I hope that if the Braves acquire Givens they get lucky twice. Seems more likely than it did from the outset of the Swarzak deal.
Since you never heard of him, here’s a little background. He was drafted number two by the Orioles back in 2009 as a high school shortstop. While he couldn’t cut it in the field, the Orioles loved his arm and he switched to pitching in 2011 or 12 and made his ML pitching debut at the age of 25 in 2015. In 2015 thru 2017, he went 12-4 with an ERA of 2.75 and a WHiP of 1107. He fell in with the Orioles dismal 2018, with a 3.99 ERA but a 1187 WHiP. He pitched 74, 78, and 76 innings over the past three years and should reach 70 this year, he’s at 38.1 now. He was moved to closer with the injuries and ineffectiveness of Britton, Brach, O’Day, but is more suited to being a shutdown setup guy, coming in in the 7th or 8th.
I’ve seen most of his appearances this year, trust me, this is a good reliever.
Nice. Any idea what the O’s would expect in return for this guy in terms of how many top 100, 50 or 10 prospects? I feel bad for Baltimore. They have to battle in that division with Tampa, Boston and the Yanks every year. Toronto isn’t always an easy team either. That Chris Davis contract (amongst other things) is killing them and might continue doing so for some time. It seemed like they were on the come up when they made the playoffs a few years ago and then it all fell apart.
Don’t feel bad for Baltimore because of who they compete against. Feel bad for them because of who owns them. The Orioles are kinda the Washington Redskins of baseball. Terrible owner whose bad decisions got them to their current state. The good news is they have a new GM from Houston who appears to be the right guy to right the ship.
Well said! He had a couple of really bad outings this year… one against the Yankees and one against the Red Sox — carve those out and he’d be dealing to a sub 3 ERA.
Would Hentges, Bobby Bradley, and Ernie Clement be a ballpark offer for Givens and Mancini? Bradley could DH, if the O’s want to play Davis at 1st in 2020. That is a lot of extra control, for a Baltimore team that won’t compete in the AL East for AT LEAST two more years.
I personally would rather them go after a Castellanos Green package. Givens has better stuff, but doesn’t know what to do with it. And Mancini and Castellanos are both dh types…next year that role needs to be Bauer’s or Santana wither the other at first
No thanks on chasing either of those deals.
Mancini is an above average 1B. He plays OF out of necessity. The Orioles probably won’t deal him anyway, as he is more valuable to us than he would likely be to other teams and it would be difficult to extract fair market value for him.
Uh……what?
Bobby bradley is not ever gonna hack it up here… now i would never usually judge a guy on 12 games, but he is so flawed and relies so much on brute strenght, id be stunned if he ever becomes a 30+ HR guy who can actually hit over .250 but his swing and overall remedial hitting development will be his downfall…and u talk davis… Davis at least had a few ALL TIME seasons… Bradley is not close to old Davis, and of course Chris Davis would be out of baseball had the o’s not signed that awful contract…. but hey if baltimore is willing to take ur proposal im all on board… lol. we would be robbing thm which im ok with
If the Braves go out & get him they better get another RP at some point to go with him..
Agreed… The Braves have several needs. Toussaint aint cuttin it, neither is AJ Minter.
I think Giles will be the first to go and set the bar low. Any gm of a contender offering 1 15-20 prospect can have him today imo
Ummm…. what?
Maybe a top 10 prospect
Yes braves…. go give up a lot of prospects for a struggling pitcher all in the name of team control
2 seconds of research could tell you that since May 31st he’s had a 1.84 ERA with 21k in 14.1 innings. (.140 BAA and .524 OPS against.) Sure is a struggling.pitcher.
A potential closer on a playoff team for years to come needs to have better numbers than Givens. I don’t care about 2 months of good pitching, I care about career numbers. His career numbers say he’s average at best. Adding mediocrity doesn’t put Atl over the top.
Agreed 100%. I think teams chasing him would be more inclined to use him in the setup role as opposed to closer.
since 2015, Givens has posted the 20th best WAR among relievers.. I would hardly call that average.
Cherry picking stats in your 2 second research was not a wise decision lol
All the talk of MadBum, Stroman, Boyd, Minor, Giles, Smith, Greinke, etc etc
Any other Brave fans see Givens & Elias as the only guys Atlanta walks away with at the deadline
All offseason we waited for AA to make a move and use some of that money we supposedly and all we got were secondary pieces
Gausman’s last start I hope doesn’t fill false hope that he is on track. Nats hit the ball hard but right to a couple guys..Although his command was good he didn’t even throw any of his supposed new pitches as of the 5th inning.
In regard to the offseason, it is possible that the team evaluated what they had and compared it to what players were available, and decided to save the money for now and see how well the team performed. That way there would be money in the budget to make a move at the trading deadline. If my opinion is indeed accurate, then so far that plan has worked pretty well, although if the Braves don’t get a real closer and maybe another starter, its likely the won’t see past the first round of the playoffs.
Gausman has been extremely frustrating. I mean he has the stuff but he just can’t put it all together and it seems he either refuses to utilize the pitches that make him really good or he can’t consistently use them. Not sure exactly which it is. He relies way too much on his fastball and sinker/change up. The Braves really need a starter and a reliever. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. If they only get one or the other I don’t think it will help enough. At that point they will have to rely on hope that some guys step up and fill the gaps.
I cannot see any valid reason for the Cleveland Indians to trade for him, unless there are plans to move other relievers out as part of another deal or deals.
u have no grasp of the game, bud…sorry, u just dont..if u cant grasp how important and big time it would be to get a guy like this for the 7th and 8th instead of tightroping with turds like olson, otero, cimber(tho hes been solid i must say) but this guy is a big time set up man… and we would just overwhelm the twins down the stretch…. they are a mess in the pen and their rotation is finally coming down to earth… if we keep hitting, no excse the tribe doesnt stomp minnesota
Lmao at these comments.
Hey shoreorioles fan, can you understand why an Indians fan isn’t very interested in Givens?
You should be interested in finding someone who can figure out why your MVP candidate pulled a Chris Davis.
If you are talking about Jose Ramirez, note the following uptrends:
From July 1-22: 16 games, .328 BA, 5HR, 17RBI, .985 OPS.
Since the All Star Break: 11 games, .356 BA, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 1.037 OPS.
No. He’s been lights out since the end of May and has a great track record.
I don’t think you know what great means.
People doing 0 research on a player and looking at an ERA that’s been cut down immensely over the last month and a half. It’s hard to use the internet these days.
Using the internet I find that he’s faced 24 batters in the last month. Using my brain along with the internet, I conclude that isn’t a large enough sample from which to draw any useful conclusions. Doing more than zero research into his five seasons of work, I further conclude that Givens is a potentially useful though hardly outstanding reliever with about average control and a recent tendency to allow homers that may or may not continue to haunt him. All of this without looking at ERA at all.
That’s only been an issue this season and it’s really only been an issue at OPACY. But even at that, he has gotten back on track in the last month not giving up HRS. He has a very strong track record of not giving up Bombs as well.
It doesn’t surprise to see 2 of the most analytically inclined FO’s to be in on this guy. There’s another level in him and I could see him paying off big for a team. Luckily for trade partners his surface stats will keep the cost from being too high as well.
If the O’s could get Josiah Gray for Givens that’d be great. I think you’ll be very pleased w Givens as well. If the O’s were anywhere near contention I’d want to extend this guy because I truly believe there’s another level there.
Well, it would be helpful to know why it has become an issue for him this season. The Dodgers already have a reliever with a similar profile in Pedro Baez.
Givens and Baez aren’t very similar numbers wise. Givens has outpaced him in K’s throughout his career. Baez also doesn’t have a HR problem. Averaging .8 per 9 innings is very solid for a reliever.
As for Givens his HR issues really hit him hard in the early parts of the season. It hasn’t been a problem historically so I’m not sure I’d say he has a HR problem. He’d be a very attractive trade candidate to me. It’s pretty likely you’ll get some sort of a discount based on his early season struggles that I don’t believe will return. I think he’s best suited for the 7th and 8th innings but he can be a very good one there. And like I said he doesn’t have HR issues historically and this year it was only an issue in OPACY.
I wasn’t looking at just this season for the comparison, but at career numbers.
HR/9
Givens: 0.9
Baez: 1.0
SO/9
Givens: 10.6
Baez: 9.3
BB/9
Givens: 3.4
Baez: 2.9
WHIP
Givens 1.14
Baez 1.10
So these two are within spitting distance of each other overall and that is assuming Givens has worked out whatever issue it was that made him prone to the long ball earlier in the season. FWIW I agree with you that Givens is exactly the kind of pitcher Friedman goes after, the borderline cases who might be better than they look currently. He likes devalued assets. He bargain hunts, even when the stakes are high.
lol, if a poster mentions ERA esp regarding a BP guy i just stop reading immediately… those are the fans who think their fans but in reality know as much as my senile grandmother lol
Dear Mr. Givens,
Please stay in the AL, preferably the East.
Maybe join Cashner in Boston!
Sincerely,
All Yankees Fans
As good as Givens has been pitching for the last 1.5 months, the O’s could actually get a solid prospect back in return, especially with another year of control after this year. Also, he has been a dominant pitcher when not pitching at Camden Yards this year.
Hes been a solid reliever for 3 years. and only reason his ERA is so high is because he has given up the long ball at Camden. Road splits are great. Ball just flys out of Camden and he had a bad 2 week stretch.
Career OPS of .637 on the road and .637 in Camden Yards.
If it breathes … and pitches after the 2nd inning … the Braves are interested.
Reliever ERA’s are often heavily impacted by one or two bad outings, which is the case here. For those that haven’t heard of him, he was a major part one of the best pens in baseball during the 5 year period in which the Orioles won more games than any other team. Finally, he’s not a closer but has been forced into that role. Allowed to go back to the 6th and 7th inning he would improve all of the bullpens mentioned.
Had to log in just to upvote this. Correct on all points. Everybody loves to spew hate everywhere. Givens is a good dude and a good BP piece, and will help any team. There is a reason so many teams are lining up.
absolutely…id LOVE this guy to solidify the Tribes pen which is already the best BP in the American, but i credit francona for piecing the guys together where as this dude would be a nice 7th or 8th guy
The BRAVES need to pass on the Baltimore reliever the BRAVES need a proven Close Dowm reliever like Will Smith of the Giants the BRAVES team is young and deserving of a proven reliever with the team the BRAVES have they can go for it all DO NOT BE SATISFIED WITH JUST ONE CHAMPIONSHIP,set up to dominate the National League East.Win Now and continue to Win build a dynasty it can be done.The BRAVES under Bobby Cox prove it,but this time lets Go for more than one championship lets DOMINATE!!!!!GO BRAVES
I agree get Smith or Giles… if they can would be great to add even another arm for a set-up man, maybe Givens or Greene for this spot if price is right of course
The better the reliever the better the prospects they will need to trade. That will determine who they get.
Braves have the prospect depth to get anyone just depends on how much AA wants to lose
The Braves have stayed the course so far by not trading away the young prospects. If the Braves front office would have listened to a lot of these people on these sites, we wouldn’t have Soroka, Fried or Riley right now. People wanted to trade them and more last year for deGrom and Realmuto. If we can get someone without giving away our top prospects., fine. If not stay with what we got. We really could use Greinke or Minor and Giles or another reliever. Pay most of Greinke’s money it won’t cost prospects.
I feel what you are saying. We all are a. It anxious. But saying dont be happy with one, win now and set up to dominate the future are somewhat oxymoronic. I still dont feel we are close enough to go all in and get an ace and closer. If we did we probably would lose some of our very top prospects (that are very important for our future) and we are probably still not getting past the Dodgers (or Yankees, Stros). So, while we are better than last year we are still in the same boat. If we traded Riley last year may e we aren’t here now. If we trade Anderson, Pache or Waters (and dont win) we may have closed the window more than we realize. I actually loved what AA did last trade deadline as he made us better without giving up anything of note. I’m sorta still in that camp. In 2020-2021 I believe having Waters, Pache and Anderson may allow us the field the best and cheapest team for our future. While I know it’s hard to not to go for it, I’m just hesitant because of the high risk or the spot we are in. If we go for it and spend heavily in the prospect area, I wont disagree and will hope for the best. Same if we add mid tier guys and hope Folty and Gausman come back strong. St least this way we go into the playoffs with a 2019 squad better than the last year and we dont hamstring our future. Thoughts?
If the Braves would have done what a lot of people on these sites wanted last year, we wouldn’t be the team we are this year or in the future. People wanted to trade Fried, Soroka, Riley and 4-5 other top prospects for 2 players, deGrom and Realmuto. They lost out on Kimbrel, 43 million is cheap. Greinke would be my #1 choice. Pay most of his salary and keep the prospects. I’d almost trade Folty if AZ. paid some of the money owed Greinke. Kinda tired of Folty’s head problems. Maybe Folty comes back with his head on different and pitches like he can. Most people, fans include and the so-called baseball experts never figured Atlanta would win last year. To say the Braves can’t beat LA. or the Yankee’s is just YOUR opinion. Everybody has one. A lot depends on who is hot at the time. The Braves can play with anyone at any given time, now. Every day that goes by these young players the Braves has, get a little more experience and get better. I don’t think we can go into the playoffs with Jackson as our closer.
u sound a bit crazy…..just fyi… the ALL CAPS THING IS A BIT MUCH….and i dont want to hear it….your one title 25 years ago came at the expense of the best offense ever assembled in the modern era, but the braves all time staff shut em down. and winning 14 straight divisions and having a single pennant is an embarassment, ill agree with that, but pump the breaks on dynasties or whatever ur yelling…Braves aint winning a title, i promise u…they remind me a bit of the Tribe when tito took over… Lock up two top 5 consensus players in Lindor and Ramirez, had a steady and lethal lineup top to bottom, but the Braves have nothing remotely in the realm Of how dominant Clevelands pitching has been the last 5 years. easily the best in baseball, and have FOUR actual #1 starters in the rotation…and didnt do the trick…be excited about acuna, ozzie, Freddie is that steady Brantley like guy for us…but i dont want u offing yourself when u dont win a series like u think….The NL east is a disgrace, btw….The amount Of money in that division and failure after failure each year
The BRAVES go for Will Smith Giants a proven closer
I’d like for the O’s to snag a couple prospects out of any one of those 3 systems. I think Givens is going to be an absolute find for whoever gets him. Really has the stuff to be a dominant reliever and has been very good outside of OPACY this year.
Dont think a trade for the Os talented closer is a givens
hehehe
According to Bowman,
The Braves might get Stroman.
Braves’ fans say, “Woah, man,
It’s more likely NO man.”
After tonight’s debacle, the Tribe might need to push for this guy.
would love the tribe to get this kid..he aint some gamebreaker, but hes a piece that solidifies our pen…which i still cant grasp manages to be the best in the league still..Hand has been shaky, but 25 teams would die for brad hand, and i have ZERO trust in wittgren or turds like olson and others…. this dude from the orioles K’s a lot of guys and can make us really tough top to bottom
I still smile every time I remember the Angels (awful GM and FO decisions for 2 decades) gave us Mike Clevinger straight up for ….wait for it….Vinnie Pestano….who was worse than even Cody Allen after we kicked him to the curb and the angels gave him 12 million for this year…random post, but its amazing how our cheap awful owner but brilliant front office is so much superior than LAA amazing owner who will spend any amount of money, but have as poor of a FO as there is in baseball. Poor trout..best player of the generation and likely in history when hes done, and that team doesnt have an arm that would make our rotation and a bunch Of overpaid hacks in the lineup…Pujols is a legend but awful contraact..ahhh,thanks for CLEV THO!