The Orioles traded their most experienced reliever, Mychal Givens, to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday for two infielders, Tyler Nevin and Terrin Vavra, and a player to be named later.
It was the Orioles second trade on Sunday. Earlier, they traded left-handed starting pitcher Tommy Milone to the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later.
Givens, who was drafted in the second round as an infielder by the Orioles in 2009, was converted to a relief pitcher in 2012 and made his major league debut in 2015.
In six seasons, he was 20-17 with a 3.32 ERA and 20 saves.
Givens had his best seasons serving as a setup man for Zack Britton, Darren O’Day and Brad Brach from 2015-2017, but once those three were traded in July 2018, Givens struggled as a closer.
This season, he was 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 12 games and wasn’t used as a closer.
Nevin, 23, was a first-round pick of the Rockies in 2015, the 38th pick overall, and last year hit .251 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs in 130 games for Double-A Hartford. Both Nevin and Vavra were at the Rockies’ alternate site.
He is the son of New York Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin. He’s primarily a first baseman, but the right-handed hitter also plays third.
Vavra, who’s also 23, is the son of longtime major league coach Joe Vavra. A left-handed hitter who plays shortstop and third, Vavra was the third-round pick of the Rockies in 2018.
At Low-A Asheville last year, Vavra hit .318 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs.
The acquisitions of Nevin and Vavra help shore up the Orioles’ stock of infielders in the minor leagues, an area of weakness.
To replace Givens and Milone on the roster, the Orioles promoted left-handed pitcher Keegan Akin from the alternate site at Bowie and reinstated right-hander Hunter Harvey from the 10-day injured list.
After three seasons of a heightened and lengthened left-field wall, the Orioles have decided to…
Question: Rich, any chance Trey Mancini gets a minor league contract and a chance to…
The Orioles' coaching staff for 2025 is close to being finalized. According to an industry…
Question: With all the interest and hype surrounding signing either players already on the team…
Corbin Burnes is the top free agent starter available this offseason, and the Orioles should…
BaltimoreBaseball.com is delighted to be partnering with John Eisenberg, the author and longtime Baltimore sports…
View Comments
Very nice trade Mr. Elias. At 1st glance, it appears as though these guys sport good genes, draft pedigree and even some good looking numbers at lower level ball ! AND apparently, neither have ever fetch mixed drinks and towels for tourists on a Caribbean beach.
Face value, this one looks like a nice trade for the Orioles. But as always, only time will tell.
Agreed.
I realize that I have as Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan coined "irrational exuberance" about the future of this team, but this looks like a pretty decent return for Givens. A strong reason for this is my faith in the Analytics Department headed up Mr. Sigfried Mejdal.
Will be interesting to see if there are any more departures over the next 24 hours.., the smart money says Yes.
You sound like Peter Angelos. He probably used some logic like that to avoid the IFA market for all those years. ....
Well palsie...I am not Peter Angelos...
You sound like an assclown who just likes to complain and whine because that's all you have ever done and ever know. Have your Mommy give you some milk and cookies when you come up from her basement--it will make you feel better.
Wow! You are an angry old fella!
I was talking to Boog. There’s nothing wrong with grabbing a young Dominican in a trade. They’re further off from the MLB but there are plenty of guys with upside there. A 17 year old acquired in a trade can improve his stock when he comes over Baltimore and be used in a trade for us to acquire MLB talent down the line.
Just because a guy is 4-5 years off from the MLB doesn’t mean he can’t be asset. That was point. Don’t be a dic k
Oh...trust me. I am a very nice fella....
Your jibber jabber is not very comprehensible. Likely in sync with your life situation.
and I believe that you should refrain from the ageism lest we run into each other sometime when you least expect it...
So can you tell me just ONE fact about either of those kids we got from the Dominican Republic? I'd bet not. And if you can't recognize an attempt at a little levity, I apologize for going over your head.
An actual trade, for real people with names NOW (mostly)...go O’s...
Another nice deal for Elias. Keep getting younger and better!!! The Orioles couldn't beat any of the teams ahead of them. Pretty obvious of that due to their record against them. So keep the pipeline going just like you stated!!! Mountcastle first home run was a mammoth shot and just singled again showing he can hit!!! So keep on developing this team and we will be world series champs soon enough for me.
Jorge Lopez is the starting pitcher for today and is really dealing so far but so many teams need starters so I say trade him as well. Cheap starter nobody liked here and criticized should bring back another good young piece. Could trade Alberto to the Dodgers who need a second baseman and help against right handed pitchers should bring back another good young piece as well. After this game trade Iglesias to the Blue Jay's for another young piece. They need a shortstop and should move Bo Bichette back to second base and Biggio back to third.
All hail Mike Elias.
So why did it take so long for Elias to see Mountcastle could hit?
The problem was that he couldn't see Mountcastle field.
I love the idea of trading Alberto soon. Better to trade him then get stuck like we did that first baseman that got sick.
Great question, wouldn’t it have been nice if he would’ve been up the whole short season...go O’s...
Biggest gripe on this site is playing infielders in the outfield!!! That's what they're doing/did with Mountcastle. 26 games in left field in the minors and his pitch recognition wasn't quite there with all the strikeouts were two BIG reasons. He still seems to have trouble with pitches at the top of the strike zone and above it. Needs to lay off that pitch. And defensive switch benches him still in left field again today!!! But hopefully he will grow more confident and comfortable the more he keeps playing there.
He looks pretty confident & comfortable today...go ...
Great execution in the sixth, wonder which one missed a sign...go O’s...
Mountcastle homered again!!! Six really good years of this kid starting next year!!! Really a smart move for Elias!!! No shuttle service here hopefully and no 2 or 3 years on the shuttle like Sisco kid and now we only have him for probably 2 more years! And he seems to be making all the regular plays in left field as well and not free swinging at everything thrown in the vicinity of home plate!!!
All hail Mike Elias!
Here, here...go O’s...
Santander has been free swinging at everything again and his batting average is showing it, down to .269!!! Needs a day off or something. Not hustling at fly ball that was just foul. Hyde needs to have a talk with him.
I’d talk with Williams & Velasquez on the botched squeeze in the 6th first, that was a crazy important run...go O’s...
Them too!!!
CalsPal, tell me about that squeeze please. Velazquez will strike out anyway but what was the play
Williams led off with a triple. Velasquez failed (pulled off the attempt) to put the bat on the ball, and Williams was left hanging between and picked off third in a rundown. It's not clear if it was a suicide squeeze or not. One of the 2 players missed the sign.
“Looked” like a squeeze, but Velasquez didn’t even try to make contact, either he missed a sign or Williams went without it being on, someone missed a sign, even announcers mentioned it, never heard an update...go O’s...
Maybe safety squeeze? ...go O’s...
Sulser should NEVER pitch on the 9th again, hopefully Hyde learns something from his last two outings, pathetic...go O’s...
Harvey will be your closer but you don’t throw him into the fire right away. Sulser is just a body and not a piece for the future
I don't ever want to hear about Iglesias being a gold glove caliber SS again. That loss is on him and his rather limited fielding range.
I just saw the replay and a good SS with range catches that ball but still Cole put himself in the hole again and why he closes is something I’m clueless about
Ken, Iglesias was the designated hitter today. Velazquez was at short.
I certainly apologize to Iglesias in that case. Thanks for correcting me Rich. I'm a twit.
The downside to everyone wearing # 42 & no names on unis...go O’s...
A week ago, I thought the O's could still make a playoff run ... Elias knew better, he made the right call pulling the trigger on the Givens and Milone trades ... I'm sure Elias would also like to move Cobb, but with that $14 million salary in 2021, Cobb will probably be back here next season.
And if Cobb is here next season, he and Crush alone will probably account for more than half of the total team payroll.
Elias knows exactly what he's doing. He could care more-than-less about making the playoffs. And why trade Cobb? Please tell me we're not going to tank 2021 away!!
2020 is over it was nice while it lasted. Cobb is not a winner in my opinion. I rather go with youth next year and buy a veteran pitcher or two. He’s not with the the big money he gets
Just because Cobb plays for a loser doesn't make him one. Until the litany of defensive meltdowns behind him this week, his ERA was under 4.0 That's not a bad ERA in this day and age, especially in OPACY. And frankly, Cobb has been unlucky in that regard all year. Some around here say he doesn't handle adversity well, and that while that may be true, but, you can't regularly blow double plays and give the other teams extra outs with all sorts of defensive miscues.
I'd love to have Alex Cobb back next year.
Worth
today's result was to be expected after management has thrown in the towel giving away Gyvins for nothing. if it was him in the eigth the Is would have won.By the way Velesquiz and Ruis batting under 100 the last 3 weeks why are they still starting. The Detroit Tigers with less talent are 16 and 16
Based on the other trades, Givens ( in my opinion) wasn’t a bad trade #7 &# 14 prospects and the dreaded PTBNL...go O’s...
Agree on the Givens trade. Considering we have no SS or third baseman ready to play. Someone please go for Cobb.
I'm sure Elias would like to move Cobb, but doubt any team is willing to take on that $14 million salary next year, for a pitcher who has won a total of 6 games over the past 3 years. I would guess that Orioles would have to cover at least half (or more) of Cobb's remaining salary, before anyone would consider trading for him.
Trading Givens now is a good move...maybe the Milone trade even better, we picked him up off the minor league waiver wire and was only here for a cup of coffee...as in all trades for young guys, time will tell
Totally agree millboy
Since talking over the closer role. Sulser has 13 walk in 13 1/4 innings and 5.45 ERA and the 2 blown saves this weekend plus others yet Hyde gave him the ball tonight again. I guess he trusts no one else but its time to move on. I’m just starting to feel that has this team gets younger and hopefully better we might need a manager with a little more experience. Too many things are going wrong it seems. I’ll end this with being in awe of Mountcastles power.
As Shamus pointed out Harvey will be the closer, not Sulser. However, that being said, you are spot on about continuing to give him the ball when he’s averaging almost a walk an inning. I’m pretty sure I heard Rick Dempsey screaming in the 9th inning today from my home in Pa.
Hyde should’ve let him pitch his way out of his jam...go O’s...