The Mets have agreed to acquire right-handed reliever Mychal Givens from the Cubs, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets. Righty Saul Gonzalez is going back to the Cubs, the teams announced upon confirming the deal.
Givens, 32, pitched well for the Cubs this year with a 2.66 ERA, 29.7 K%, 11.0 BB%, and 41.4% groundball rate in 40 2/3 innings. The Cubs signed the longtime Orioles veteran as a free agent to a $5MM deal in March.
The Cubs spent a total of $12.75MM on Givens, David Robertson, Chris Martin, and Daniel Norris. Norris was released in late July, but otherwise the Cubs’ investment (of which they’ve only paid out two-thirds) has netted them the aforementioned Saul Gonzalez as well as pitching prospect Ben Brown from the Phillies in the Robertson deal plus utility man Zach McKinstry from the Dodgers for Martin. The Cubs also added Hayden Wesneski from the Yankees for Scott Effross, a 15th round draft pick of theirs in 2015. The Cubs’ trade deadline is perhaps more notable for who they did not trade, with Willson Contreras and Ian Happ staying put.
For the Mets, Givens joins a bullpen headed by Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith, and Seth Lugo, with rookie Colin Holderman having been sent to Pittsburgh in the Daniel Vogelbach deal. Smith hit the IL last week with a lat strain, while veteran Trevor May will rejoin the Mets tomorrow after missing three months due to a stress reaction in his right humerus. The Mets also have Tylor Megill on the mend, who stands a good chance of working out of the bullpen when he’s able to return from a shoulder injury. Givens is reunited with manager Buck Showalter, under whom he pitched for the first four years of his career, as well as former Orioles teammate Tommy Hunter.
Mets GM Billy Eppler opted for a modest trade deadline after an active offseason, with his team sitting 3.5 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East. The Mets acquired a new DH platoon of Vogelbach and Darin Ruf, also adding utility outfielder Tyler Naquin and reliever Phillip Diehl. The biggest addition may be ace Jacob deGrom, currently making his season debut at Nationals Park against a depleted Nationals lineup. The rival Braves went notably bigger in their bullpen augmentation, adding the pricey Raisel Iglesias in a deal with the Angels.
The pitching prospect the Cubs netted in this trade, Gonzalez, is a 22-year-old righty born in Puerto Rico. The Mets drafted him in the 23rd round back in 2018, and he spent the season working out of the bullpen of the organization’s A-ball affiliate. It’s been a successful 25 2/3 innings for Gonzalez, who sports a 26.7 K% and 6.7 BB%.
Okay. Who will get Contreras?
no one
Mets don’t need Contreras. If they don’t come down in their asking price just walk away from the deal
Hahahahahahahaha. Ok, big boy.
We have great hitting catchers your right
Cubs may have decided. I deal was good enough and would rather extend a QO at end of year and get draft pick instead
Absolutely. This leaves Contreras to test the market and either leave after not accepting the QO which results in a solid draft pick, or re-signing. And no one seems to notice that the Gomes/Contreras combo has been very solid. They can build off that if Contreras stays. They need help at third, short (w/ Hoerner to second), CF and a frontline pitcher. But with a better farm than most people on here ever acknowledge, they’re not as far away as the haters think.
Please define “solid.” Gomes has been awful.
His defense has been great. He’s done wonders with the young pitchers. What he lacks in offense, Contreras has made up for. Do some research before you smear.
Word is Mets don’t like the asking price and are probably gonna promote Alvarez
Mets. Just picked up Givens from the Cubs. Contreras is next.
Awful deadline. Fulmer and Chafin were right there for the taking. Idiotic franchise
Givens is a pretty solid reliever.
Givens is better than Fulmer and Chafin actually
Givens is solid. But the Mets failed to get that decent lefty piece they needed. Moore, Mantiply, or Chafin would have balanced the pen nicely. Regardless, they have a better pen today than they did yesterday
Lowly Rodriguez! I see what you did there. Clever!
Are you actually a Mets fan? This was a solid deadline. Improved DH and added a solid reliever at a low cost. No reason to overreact and trade top prospects for rentals.
They’re in first place and have the 4th best record in baseball and they’ve done that without deGrom. Enjoy it instead of being a bitter hater who criticizes literally every move or non-move they make.
But the Mets were going to flex their financial muscle….
They did this offseason.
They obviously were not. The Cohen tax had it’s intended result.
Cool story but Sandy aldersons comments were directed at the trade deadline not the off-season.
Yes they are…
Why are you acting like Fulmer is Mariano Rivera? Givens in the same league as him. Wish they got chafin though.
@LFGMets agree and what are we going to have to give up for Givens when eppler gave away Holderman for nothing?
You do realize Holderman wasn’t going to have a spot when May and Megill returned, correct? I’m not sure how they’re shuffling their staff now.
@You do realize that Holderman had options and surely is better than Tommy Hunter, Lowly Rodriguez who being a lefty doesn’t matter cause he sucks, and other pitchers on the Mets 40 man.
Are you a member of the Mets organization or do you merely think you know who will have a spot and who won’t?
Do the reinforcements of deGrom, May, McCann, and Megill (in alphabetical order) mean nothing to you?
You dont know what they were asking for and i think chafin did not get traded so that says something
Givens is a high quality reliever with excellent numbers against LH batters. Peterson can fill role of a LHP in the bullpen. Team is significantly better with Vogelbach and Ruff over Dom and JD. Plus replaced Jankiwski with Naquin.
@dugmet You are assuming that Petterson can be a good reliever. Not everyone can make that adjustment. His audition didn’t go well either. I’d rather have a guy who has proven he can rather than a guy who might.
Finally. Nice arm but what’s the cost?
Some pitcher named Saul Gonzalez…no clue
Not bad
Givens? He’s Miguel Castro 2.0
Not even close. Careers:
Castro – 106 ERA+, 1.404 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, 4.73 FIP
Givens – 133 ERA+, 1.181 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 3.71 FIP
Can any of you negative Nancys look up a stat or two before posting this hatred?
I don’t want to do research!
Just another Manny Acosta, smh.
Wah wah wahhhhh.
Givens just gave up 5 runs in 0.2 inning with 2 HRs in Mets blowout!
Nice pickup Eppler!
No he is not he has pitched over 42 innings at a 2.55 era.
Buzzer beater
Hello? Tampa Bay Rays FO??? Are you awake yet???
Can’t blame anyone for refusing to pay this years prices.
Is fulmer better then givens? If anything equal. Chafin i dont understand
Givens is solid. 159 ERA+ this year. I love this pickup in case May or Smith go south. Nice veteran arm
Agreed. This move will keep May on the bench and not blow a half dozen games down the stretch. Who did we give up?
May might of been injured because he was never as bad as he was this year before going to the IR.
Laughing
At what? Probably your sad life
Aww what’s wrong Bryan c?
If he can pitch lefty then it’s ok. But he can’t.
Fulmer was my hope and would of been nice to reacquire. I was hoping for Fulmer, Soto (DET), and Wilmer Flores.
Mets really “went for it!” LMFAO!
Are you 14 yrs old?
Sleepy Sandy and Billy Bob Yeppler strike again! Naquin was the only decent pickup. Unless you like the Sta-puft marshmallow man DH and his 36 year old platoon mate….Cohen needs to ask the dinosaur Alderson to retire. Immediately.
Yeah, what losers Eppler and Sandy are. I mean, all they’ve done is get the Mets into first place without their staff ace pitching an inning.
What is it about the Mets that brings such sad people to hate on them?
@rct I am a long time Mets fan and we hate Sandy and Eppler not the Mets!
Do you mean to tell me that the Padres getting Brandon Drury who has 20 HRsa and .274 BA and can play the field and played well for the Mets last year for an 18 year old minor league player isn’t better than all the half DH players who can’t field silly eppler brought in while overpaying on every one?
I guess we are supposed to take a snapshot at the standings and be happy while the Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Astros and others are arguably better than the Mets right now?
You’re a hater, a troll, and a clown. No matter what move they make, you will complain. You have no credibility.
They attract losers in life.; that’s a given.
Don’t watch.
What do you dislike about a DH platoon where each half has an OPS above .850 against their respective split?
@bryan c what I dislike is they all could be replaced by Drury who can play the field and was had for an 18 year old minor league player!
Secondly Drury played well in NY last year and got hot and then was benched by that idiot manager Rojas.
Drury cost SD #6 prospect. These guys cost less and do the same if not better
Luis Rojas single handidly ruined any hope the Mets had at going for the playoffs the past 2 years. He would consistently bench our most clutch hitter in Drury while symotamiously letting Conforto bat third, aka our worst hitter. Conforto with guys on in close games striked out almost every time up
Naquin was probably the most marginal pickup of them all.
Please explain.
Most of these moves are made by eppler not sandy he gives advice but it is up to eppler as long as cohen oks it.He said that a million times in the off season did he works mostly on the business side.
Huge move. Here in NY, Mets fans are unhappy about the lack of a big splash, but they made a series of smart moves and incremental improvements. They’re already built to win it all. Good deadline IMO.
I agree, Von. Also think the Phillies have improved the current major league club. Should be a fun final two months.
Braves will overtake them in three weeks.
Been hearing this for a month and it hasn’t happened yet. Also, take a look at the Mets schedule in September. It’s that cake walk that the Braves had already.
My only question is why Naquin when Peralta was available.
I understand the rest of the moves.
i do prefer Peralta to Naquin but I’m not gonna lose sleep over a 4th OFer that cost peanuts to get. Maybe they see something in Diehl and though that was worth the deal with Cincy over the Dbacks.
Also my thought.
It’s what makes the most sense. And I guess I defer to the actual baseball professionals more than the armchair GMs here.
Calm down Mets fans. There’s no major need to add a top reliever and give up good prospects
Megill and May will be back, they’ve added Givens, and they have other good depth with Trevor Williams, Tommy Hunter, and Lopez
Staying put and getting a cheaper mid-tier guy like Givens was the way to go here
Lol. Trevor Williams.
Another casual who doesn’t really understand anything
Trevor May has been terrible as a Met. Hes good for a month and then sucks the rest of the season. They should of gotten Hader but as a consolation prize for not getting him, Chafin was there for the taking and they blew it
Did they? Were you in the GMs room and know what he did and didn’t do? I’m sure if Eppler called and said hey just give us Chafin and we’ll send over a bag of balls the Tigers GM would have been like, yep, he’s there for the taking, you got ‘im.
Givens played for Showalter as an Oriole. He’s got plenty left in the tank.
Cubs fans are irate right now. Flat screens are getting smashed and all the kids in the house are ducking and covering. Trying to figure out how none of their three most attractive trade pieces got moved. I guess Hoyer subscribes to Lloyd Christmas and still thinks there is a chance.
I’m not spamming. I posted this under the wrong story.
Thumbs up for the Dumb and Dumber reference regardless.
Well, Givens is a very nice late inning addition and the DH platoon of Ruf & Vogey crushes Smith & Davis. Not terrible. Slightly frustrating but not terrible at all.
BTW – Jacob deGrom in 1 hour! Nobody landed a better pitcher and the cost was 0!
By far the most significant deadline acquisition was/is jdg.
I don’t see anyone catching them barring 2-3 sp injuries and offensive underperformance.
It’s all about the head to head series with the Braves. If the Mets just split those, they have the division.
You sound funny to me buddy 😉
I laughed at your comment “ and the DH platoon of Ruf & Vogey crushes Smith & Davis.” You’re a joke and a half boy-scout motor breath
@bryan c Givens just gave up 5 runs in 0.2 inning with 2 HRs in Mets blowout!
Nice pickup Eppler!
The Mets will still get a lefty reliever, before the end of August. The ability to acquire players isn’t over.
no trades of 40-man guys til the offseason now – the only way they’re adding is through a waiver claim or a trade of guys off the 40 man. highly unlikely anything impactful comes back that way.
The Mets will add a lefty reliever before the end of August. The ability to acquire players isn’t over.
Eppler gave Mets fans the finger. Terrible trade deadline while all their competition got better. I’m sick to my stomach.
I see puking out your awful opinions hasn’t helped your stomach.
Maybe some pepto?
Givens just gave up 5 runs in 0.2 inning with 2 HRs in Mets blowout!
Nice pickup Eppler!
Mets did ok this deadline. They lost Holderman but there were major questions about his shoulder. It’s a significant injury risk and good risk assessment to deal it away
Didn’t lose any other significant prospects. With the draft they had this year they’re now a mid-tier farm system that will keep getting deeper in future drafts if they keep up the policy of not dealing prospects
The combo of Vogelbach vs rhp and Ruf vs LHP is a significant .900 OPS bat and they added Givens a solid depth piece
They didn’t really need to get an expensive reliever with Megill and May coming back
@Camden453 there were no major issues with Holderman’s shoulder and he did not miss major time on the IL as you keep posting. He rested a week and was back with no problem and that is not major issues as no medical procedure was even neccesary.
Brandon Drury, 20 HR and .274, was had by the Padres for 1 18 year old minor league player; he played well in NY and can field also; that is much better than Fatbach, Duff, and NaiveQ.
And it only would have been 1 roster spot and 1 minor league player.
The only one who got played is Eppler the fool!
They’ve got 5 players in fangraphs top 100 after the draft.
No complaints there.
Took a measured approach to the deadline and made the highest value impacts.
The ny sports radio crowd is beside themselves.
Who is this Saul Gonzalez character…?
Better call Saul in a couple years.
Why did Ruf cost so much more than Givens???
Because Eppler is a moron; look at tonight’s game he gets rid of Holderman for nothing and now the last place lowly Nats have scored 4 runs off the Mets bullpen because they had to call up Nogosek and Lopez. There is a loss in the books squarely at Eppler’s feet who did nothing today.
“…highest value impacts…” who?
Draft picks were not done by Eppler
deGrom looks good.
102? Wow.
As much as I love seeing him hit those speeds, it’s what landed him on the DL last year with about 13 months of playing time lost. We need him to stay healthy through the postseason.
I wish he would dial it down a bit. He won two Cy Young’s with a 97 mph FB and impeccible control.
He does, but the only thing that matters is how he feels the next few days. Even if deGrom loses tonight, if he feels okay after a real start, the Mets are set.
I like this move but not 1 lefty? Come on.
You Met fans should be happy you didn’t trade a prospect for the Cubs All-Stars. However, I don’t think you’ll be happy come playoff time. So you freaked out yhe whole trade market so Contreras and Happ weren’t moved but Contreras will become a free agent which will cost you a 2nd and 5th round pick plus international signing money if your interested. Cheers
Contreras, to me, would’ve been a pure rental. Francisco Alvarez is the catcher of the future and is getting his reps in at AAA right now; I’d presume he’s the starter at some point next season. No need to go after Contreras in UFA.
Mets fandom is an infinite loop.
Some people “love” them so much that they turn into haters.
Is this true of other teams?
@raisinsss Do other teams have trolls like you with no life other than to come on here and bash Mets fans for this or that?
Givens just gave up 5 runs in 0.2 inning with 2 HRs in Mets blowout!
Nice pickup Eppler!
Oh, god, the Mets FO is awful.