NL East Notes: Marlins, Givens, Acuna, Mets, Red Sox

Mychal Givens was a popular figure in trade speculation before the Rockies acquired him from the Orioles earlier today, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reports that the Marlins were one of the clubs who also had an interest in Givens’ services.  With Givens now off the board, the Fish will continue to pursue relief pitching help, and Rosenthal notes that, unsurprisingly, Miami’s “young starting pitchers are popular with other clubs.”  MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (Twitter links) reports that the Marlins have thus far been asked about the likes of Elieser Hernandez, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett, and Trevor Rogers, but the Fish have thus far been resistent to such demands.

Caleb Smith could potentially be a different story, as Frisaro tweets that Miami is at least “exploring his market” with potential suitors.  It remains to be seen if the Marlins will actually send any of these young arms elsewhere, though it’s worth remembering that last year’s trade deadline saw Miami send a young starter in Trevor Richards (as well as a very notable young reliever in Nick Anderson) to the Rays for a reliever in Ryne Stanek and an outfield prospect in Jesus Sanchez.  One would imagine the Marlins would only move any of Hernandez, Cabrera, etc. if they could land a similarly controllable piece back, rather than a rental player.

More from around the NL East…

• Ronald Acuna Jr. left tonight’s game “as a precaution with right hamstring tightness,” according to the Braves’ official update.  Acuna has already missed a good chunk of the season with a wrist injury, and another injured list visit (especially over something as potentially pesky as a hamstring issue) would leave the Braves without their best player for much of the stretch drive.  More will be known once Acuna is tested, though in the short term, one wonders if this could lead Atlanta to look into adding a bat as a security measure by tomorrow’s trade deadline.
• The Braves acquired Tommy Milone from the Orioles today but aren’t likely to stop there in their pursuit of starting pitching, as reporter Robert Murray tweets that Atlanta has considered “every starter imaginable.“
• The Mets’ deadline wish list includes a catcher and pitching (both starting and relieving) help, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.  Perhaps in a related item, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that the Red Sox have been “doing background on Mets minor leaguers,” which could hint at a potential trade.  Rosenthal figures Christian Vazquez would be a natural fit to address the Mets’ catching needs, and we’ve already heard that the Sox have discussed Vazquez with the Rays in recent days.  Speculatively, such Red Sox hurlers as Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, or Ryan Brasier could potentially be on the Mets’ radar, though the Sox just lost potential trade chip Nathan Eovaldi to the injured list.