Seattle Mariners Should Jump at Opportunity to add Mychal Givens

The season may be young, but some teams are already starting to have conversations regarding trading their veterans. One name, in particular, should pique the interest of Seattle Mariners fans.

The Baltimore Orioles are reportedly listening to offers on right-handed reliever Mychal Givens. Given the state of the Mariners bullpen, it may be prudent of Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto to aggressively pursue this opportunity.

What makes Givens a good fit for Seattle? Well, let’s start with the obvious: The Mariners bullpen isn’t very good. Of course, there are a few good arms in it and Roenis Elias, Brandon Brennan, and Connor Sadzeck look like good finds. Anthony Swarzak has been up and down, but for the most part, pretty good.

But the team is in need of quality depth since they will not have an elite option all season long. So Dipoto should really look into any reliever that may become available on the trade market, even if it is early in the season.

While not anywhere near elite, Givens is coming off a solid 2018 season, where he posted a 3.07 FIP, a 9.27 K/9, and a 3.52 BB/9. Thus far in 2019, Givens has posted a 4.02 FIP, an 11.25 K/9, and a 3.0 BB/9. He also has been groundball heavy, which is unusual for Givens, who is more of a flyball pitcher.

Givens would not be a short-term asset either. He is just one month into his arbitration-1 season, meaning he will not be a free agent until after the 2021 season. While he is making $2.1 million this season, he will more than likely not cost more than $10 million over the next 3 seasons.

The cost will be interesting and hard to nail down. The Mariners aren’t the only team who need bullpen help. The team will also get Hunter Strickland and Sam Tuivailala back in the coming weeks, so the pen could become crowded with Givens in the mix.

The solid mid-inning reliever with nearly 3-full seasons of club control is a decent asset for the Orioles and one they’ll likely try to squeeze everything they can. At 29-years-old, Givens isn’t a young guy per se, so that will dampen his value a little.

When you consider the depth of bullpen arms coming to the big leagues soon, the Mariners must be careful not to overpay. Trading one of these relief arms for the more established Givens, similar to the Tuivailala for Seth Elledge trade, could be on the table.

There isn’t much more that would make sense for Seattle unless they are giving away a few low-level guys. Dipoto should absolutely inquire and if the price is right, there is no harm in acquiring Givens 95 MPH fastball.