Mychal Givens Traded to the Colorado Rockies for Three

[DrungoHazewood]

3 hours ago, InsideCoroner said:

I don’t see any downside to this deal. Good luck to Givens in the future (although there can’t be many pitchers excited to hear they’re going to Colorado).

It's always interesting to see how altitude effects individual pitchers.  Givens relies a lot on arm angle and deceptiveness, less on sheer break on his pitches.  That might be good for him.

[Frobby]

Elias seemed pleased with the return he got:

“As soon as I got hired in late 2018 it was like Givens right away, people asking for him,” Elias said. “He’s been extremely popular all across the league for the closing in on two years that I’ve been here. But we just hadn’t found a package that really felt like it reflected his value until today, and we feel like we found it today.
* * * 

“Nevin and Vavra have been pretty high-profile guys since they were drafted,” he said. “Both were high picks, both favorites of scouts, both have enjoyed success in pro ball.

“I think Vavra is someone, we’ve been kind of accumulating infielders the last year or so and he fits right in with that group and just gives us another really high-quality guy. He can play shortstop, a really good second baseman. A plus-contact bat from the left side, really good control of the strike zone. We liked him coming out of the draft. Gamer-style makeup and he’s coming to Bowie once he completes his intake, so we’ll get a look at him soon.

“Tyler Nevin’s been a very attractive and very productive hitter since he signed in 2015. Really good up through the fall league last year and had a very solid Double-A at age 22. Digging into his numbers and some of the batted-ball data a little bit more from Double- A last year, we actually think he had some bad luck and could have been an even better season. He controls the strike zone really well, he’s got a real pretty swing. I think it’s fair to say that he’s serviceable elsewhere - third base, corner outfield - but first base is probably his best position right now and he’s somebody that I would say in all likelihood will be a major league spring training next year and probably pencils in as our starting first baseman in Norfolk next year, but we’ll just have to see.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/08/elias-on-trades-departed-players-and-status-of-rebuild.html

 

[Roll Tide]

3 hours ago, VaBird1 said:

Looks like a good return.  Fangraphs will have them about 12 and 17 in the Os system plus the PTBNL.

MLB Pipeline has Vavra at 12 and Nevin at 22

So far we are owed assets for 

Bleier from Marlins ....1 PTNL (in their 12-16 range) Fulton, Misner, Scott or Burdick?

Milone ..... 2 ...Bottom of the top 30. Alexander, Jenista, Graffanino, or Burrows? Maybe none are top 30

Givens 1 ...Decolati, Wallace, Ethridge, Montano, Feltner, and Pike?

[BohKnowsBmore]

17 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

MLB Pipeline has Vavra at 12 and Nevin at 22

So far we are owed assets for 

Bleier from Marlins ....1 PTNL (in their 12-16 range) Fulton, Misner, Scott or Burdick?

Milone ..... 2 ...Bottom of the top 30. Alexander, Jenista, Graffanino, or Burrows? Maybe none are top 30

Givens 1 ...Decolati, Wallace, Ethridge, Montano, Feltner, and Pike?

Out of curiosity, where did you come up with the ranges for Bleier (and the others)?

[Roll Tide]

39 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Out of curiosity, where did you come up with the ranges for Bleier (and the others)?

So I looked at their prospects, organizational farm rank, and my best guess.
 

Since we know that players on the 60 man player pool would already be here I eliminated them and the rookies to see who was left.

In Bleiers case he is 33 but is under control until 2023 and is a competent reliever. I expect that player to be a decent prospect. The Marlins system ranks high but is top heavy with 5 top 100s

For Milone the return is anybody’s guess...As I mentioned they might not get anything in the top 30. I was simply mentioning names on the list that are possibly it due to not being a rookie or on the player pool.

Same with Givens

 

[hoosiers]

Bleier will be interesting because the Marlins system is very deep.  Only 3 prospects on their Baseball America list in their top 25 who are rated below 50.  Of course, if ME converted Bleier into a 50 rated prospect, that would be a strong trade.  Even at 29th on the BA list is a young, cold weather HS arm from the 12th round of the 2019 draft - Chris Mokma - with a 50 Extreme rating, that would be a quality, legit prospect for  Bleier.  If Mokma is too much to give up for Bleier, then we may be accepting prospects outside the Marlins 2020 BA Top 30. 

My guess is that we are getting a younger lottery ticket for Bleier.  ME is in no hurry and is simply accumulating as many quality assets as he can while avoiding any 40 man issues.  If the best assets he can get for Bleier are recent international signees or recent draft picks, I expect he will accept those prospects.  

[Roll Tide]

 

Quote

Roch Kubatko

@masnRoch

·

16h

Elias said he told Mychal Givens "you're going to be an Oriole for life" despite the trade. Talked about how much Givens has meant to organization. #orioles

 

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi83JqL2cXrAhW7l3IEHb3IBfgQglR6BAgEEA8&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FmasnRoch%2Fstatus%2F1300199005243224072%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet&usg=AOvVaw09b7sm41q1AU6SgYUcnOUu

[jamalshw]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

It was a solid haul for Givens.  The PTBNL could be a young, lottery ticket, ala the Cashner deal too.  We just don’t know yet.

That being said, you only had one more year of Givens.  Elias said this was the best offer he got for him since he has been the GM.  I believe him, even if the service time is less.  He hadn’t pitched well since Elias got here but he has pitched well in a SSS this year. 
 

Elias has said Nevin will start at first in Norfolk next year.  I would say my only issue with the trade is that Nevin appears to be another 1st/DH/COer and we have a lot of those.

Vavra has a legit shot at being the starting second baseman long term.  Good defensively, good hit tool and knows the strike zone.  Can he develop anymore power?  That will probably be the difference between him being a UTI player or a starter.

I agree with this statement. I like Vavra and love adding a middle infield prospect we can potentially project up the middle alongside Hall in a couple years (either everyday or at least as a part-time option). It adds quality at a weak position in the system.

I agree that Nevin seems like adding what we already have, but I figure since he was blocked by a few guys in Colorado's system, it was likely a situation where we have Nevin or a less prospect at another position as the second piece and I'm okay with Elias taking the better bat without a position in that scenario. We will see what happens with Nunez in the next few hours (and over the winter). We may see him going and we may finally see him going somewhere. Davis may finally be gone by the time Nevin is ready considering he's slotted to start at AAA next year. With Davis gone, Nunez potentially gone and Mountcastle in LF, that could open up some time at 1B/DH alongside Mancini (provided he gets back to form) if Nevin can show a strong enough  bat to earn consideration.

[Roll Tide]

12 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I agree with this statement. I like Vavra and love adding a middle infield prospect we can potentially project up the middle alongside Hall in a couple years (either everyday or at least as a part-time option). It adds quality at a weak position in the system.

I agree that Nevin seems like adding what we already have, but I figure since he was blocked by a few guys in Colorado's system, it was likely a situation where we have Nevin or a less prospect at another position as the second piece and I'm okay with Elias taking the better bat without a position in that scenario. We will see what happens with Nunez in the next few hours (and over the winter). We may see him going and we may finally see him going somewhere. Davis may finally be gone by the time Nevin is ready considering he's slotted to start at AAA next year. With Davis gone, Nunez potentially gone and Mountcastle in LF, that could open up some time at 1B/DH alongside Mancini (provided he gets back to form) if Nevin can show a strong enough  bat to earn consideration.

One of the middle infielder talent we have can also move to 3B. I don’t think Ruiz is going to hit for enough batting average to stick long term.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Fangraphs write-up on the deal:

Quote

 

It seems like new Rockies pitcher Mychal Givens has had a robust trade market each of the last two summers, both because he is a good pitcher and because he has multiple years of team control left. The Orioles finally pulled the trigger on a deal for him and scooped up three prospects from the Rockies: Terrin Vavra, Tyler Nevin, and a player to be named later.

Givens has thrown 336 innings across parts of six seasons with the Orioles and has amassed a 3.32 career ERA (he’s sporting a cool 1.38 ERA this year) and struck out just shy of 11 hitters per nine (roughly 33% K%) during that time. His strikeout rate has climbed each of the last two years as Givens increased the usage of his changeup, which had previously been a distant tertiary pitch behind his fastball and a slider.

But Givens still works heavily with that mid-90s fastball (nearly 70% of the time), which averages 94 mph and tops out at 98. In addition to having a great arm, the right-hander has a unique low-slot delivery that lets him attack hitters in the top half of the zone from an odd angle. For how terse and explosive Givens’ delivery is, he has good feel for locating his secondary stuff to each pitch’s appropriate zip code and he adds stability to a Rockies bullpen filled with pitchers who have a history of being rather wild.

Givens falls somewhere in the Rockies late-inning pecking order currently occupied by Daniel Bard, hard-throwing Carlos Estévez, and Yency Almonte, who is having an improved second season by throwing more sliders and a lot more strikes. The rest of the Rockies bullpen is questionable. Tyler Kinley has great stuff but also has command issues, and Jairo Díaz’s fastball has lost two ticks from last year. The club could still use another lefty relief piece (or it could promote Ben Bowden from within) but for now they have enough big late-inning arms to get through three or four frames of a close game.

As talented as Givens is, Colorado did give up quite a bit here. Givens’ market seemed robust, which makes sense because he’s been consistently good for half a decade and still has a whole year of control remaining. The best prospect sent to Baltimore was middle infielder Terrin Vavra, an undersized 23-year-old with a full-body swing that he’s athletic enough to control. Vavra is a bat-first prospect who walked as much as he struck out in 2019, his first pro season. That performance has to be discounted a bit because he was a 22-year-old college hitter playing at Low-A, and it’s kind of scary to know that Vavra will be 24 next May and not have accumulated any upper-level experience whatsoever, but he’s the kind of hitter who becomes Joey Wendle, or Aaron Hill, or the high-contact infielder of your choice.

Tyler Nevin is also headed to Baltimore. The 23-year-old corner infielder is a career .286/.362/.441 hitter in the minors. I don’t think he has enough power to be an everyday first baseman, and I don’t think he has the lateral agility to play third base every day, but I do think Nevin will hit enough to play a substantial part-time role based largely on his feel for contact.
 

Both Vavra and Nevin have been added to the Orioles prospect list on The Board, and Baltimore still has five (at time of publication) players to be named later who will join the system at some point this year, including one from this deal. Their rebuild is in full effect.

 

 

[interloper]

4 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

MLB Pipeline has Vavra at 12 and Nevin at 22

So far we are owed assets for 

Bleier from Marlins ....1 PTNL (in their 12-16 range) Fulton, Misner, Scott or Burdick?

Milone ..... 2 ...Bottom of the top 30. Alexander, Jenista, Graffanino, or Burrows? Maybe none are top 30

Givens 1 ...Decolati, Wallace, Ethridge, Montano, Feltner, and Pike?

Easy to forget, but we're also owed 1 from the Astros for Hector Velazquez. 

[Just Regular]

The Nevin part of the acquisition takes me back to the 2015 draft, now that we're five years past.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?year_ID=2015&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0

Then he was Ryan Mountcastle...bat first prep from the California/Florida treasure troves.  Though 2 picks later, he drew considerably above slot from the Rockies then.  Could another AAA MVP be in the works?

With the benefit of hindsight, that 24 - Walker Buehler, 25 - DJ Stewart a very painful snipe as Andrew Miller helped us narrowly out-win Dodgers in 2014.  That said, I doubt hurt college pitchers would have been Dan's style.

[BohKnowsBmore]

7 minutes ago, OrioleDog said:

The Nevin part of the acquisition takes me back to the 2015 draft, now that we're five years past.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?year_ID=2015&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0

Then he was Ryan Mountcastle...bat first prep from the California/Florida treasure troves.  Though 2 picks later, he drew considerably above slot from the Rockies then.  Could another AAA MVP be in the works?

With the benefit of hindsight, that 24 - Walker Buehler, 25 - DJ Stewart a very painful snipe as Andrew Miller helped us narrowly out-win Dodgers in 2014.  That said, I doubt hurt college pitchers would have been Dan's style.

I was about to point out that KG was Duquette's first Baltimore draft pick, then I realized you specified "hurt college pitchers."

[Philip]

So Vavra is a 2B? Hmmm does this make it more likely that Alberto is moved? Even though Vavra isn’t ready yet?
I thought  Gunnar was our future 2B, but now he could move to third, so Ruiz’ days are numbered as well.

[weams]

8 minutes ago, Philip said:

So Vavra is a 2B? Hmmm does this make it more likely that Alberto is moved? Even though Vavra isn’t ready yet?
I thought  Gunnar was our future 2B, but now he could move to third, so Ruiz’ days are numbered as well.

Or Gunnar could be a shortstop. Seriously.