Givens’ mettle on display for potential suitors

ANAHEIM -- Restricted previously to chatter and rumors, the trade market for relievers picked up Saturday, three days prior to this year’s July 31 Deadline -- the only Deadline with MLB doing away with August waiver trades for the first time. Left-hander Jake Diekman went from the Royals to the A’s. Veteran righty Sergio Romo was sent from the Marlins to the Twins. More are expected to switch teams in the days to come, with nearly every contender in a position to add bullpen help.

It’s a seller’s market, which the Orioles could look to take advantage of regarding Mychal Givens. The club’s most likely trade candidate heading into the Deadline, Givens’ stock likely increased during the late innings of Saturday’s 8-7 win over the Angels, when he clamped down the Orioles’ third straight victory in what was essentially his latest pre-Deadline audition.

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“I’m still wearing orange and black, so that’s all I’m worried about,” Givens said afterwards. “I’m sticking with the guys I’m with right now. Trades have nothing to do with me. That’s the front office.”

Still, Givens knows he could be on the move shortly. And if this was one of the last times he took the mound in an Orioles uniform, he left it in grand fashion. Working around some spotty control and a defensive miscue, Givens logged 1 1/3 innings Saturday to notch his ninth save, recording the final two outs in particularly high-leverage fashion.

After a misplay from Richie Martin on the infield turned a potential double-play ball into a two-on, one out situation in the ninth, Givens allowed an RBI single to David Fletcher that shrank Baltimore’s lead to one. Givens then struck out Mike Trout with the tying run on third. Two batters later, Givens got Justin Upton to pop out on a 3-2 pitch to strand the bases loaded.

All told, Givens was charged with one earned run while walking two (one intentional) and striking out two, though his line could’ve looked different if not for Martin’s mistake behind him. Either way, Givens flashed the stuff that figures to make him a coveted chip heading into this week’s Deadline, getting Trout to swing through a 96.8-mph fastball above the zone and beating Upton with 95.7-mph heat with the game on the line.

“I don’t think it’s a distraction for him,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of the trade rumors. “I think he’s given it everything he’s got, and he cares. Especially after two nights ago, I know that he wanted to. He wanted to go back out two nights ago another inning and I wouldn’t let him. I knew he wanted to be in a big situation again, and he got in one and got out of it, so good for him.”

Tasked with handling the lion’s share of Baltimore’s high-leverage situations this season, Givens is 9-for-14 in save chances and pitching to a career-high 4.28 ERA, while also posting the highest strikeout and home-run rates of his career. But much of his struggles were wrapped up in a tough stretch from mid-May -- even including his rough outing Thursday, Givens owns a 2.18 ERA over his past 10 appearances. Opponents are hitting .122 off Givens during that stretch.

“Mike’s got elite stuff,” Hyde said. “"Mike’s going to be a high-leverage guy for us because of numbers that we have. We’re going with what we have. I’m going to try to put our best guys out there in the big spots. We roll the dice with it.”

Of the teams looking for relief help, though, many figure to target Givens to potentially help in the middle innings, where he thrived as one of the game’s top setup men from 2015-2018. His results have played up in shorter stints this year, too, Givens' ERA jumping from 2.81 to 5.33 when asked to pitch in more than one inning. Givens is making just $2.15 million this season and isn’t a free agent until after 2021, making him a low-cost and controllable asset, the type teams with October dreams tend to prefer at the Deadline.