Baltimore Orioles: 5 players most likely to be traded before 2019

Mychal Givens has come back to earth this year, but he still holds value as a back-end bullpen piece on a competitive team

From 2015-2017, Mychal Givens posted a 2.75 ERA, a 3.23 FIP, and a 10.9 K/9.

In 2018, the ERA has jumped to 4.15, but the FIP is still 3.14 and he has a 9.3 K/9.

The point is that Givens’ underlying skills haven’t necessarily changed, he’s just gotten a bit unlucky this year. And we could’ve guess that would be the case with the Orioles poor defense behind him.

Givens still has three arbitration years left, and he’s 28-years-old with just 257 innings pitched in his career. Similar to Bundy, Givens is young, affordable and for the right team, could be a valuable piece.

The problem is that the Orioles have almost nothing in the bullpen at the moment, making trading one of their best relievers a bit tougher to bear. However, we already know that the 2019 season likely won’t be a competitive one, which should allow for a good amount of flexibility on the Orioles end.

There are two likely scenarios for Givens in 2019, and a third less likely one. The first is that the Orioles trade him in the offseason. This would allow the receiving team to get maximum volume from Givens next year. The second is that teams hold out until the trade-deadline in July 2019 to see where Givens is at, and what he has left in the tank at that point.

The third scenario is that the Orioles keep him, for some unfounded reason, to lead their bullpen in 2019. This seems unlikely, but as we don’t know what the front office will look like, we can’t be too certain.

If the Orioles keep Givens, it’ll be a mistake.