Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Mychal Givens avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $3.225 million deal, according to a source. Givens had a rough 4.57 ERA but also recorded a career-high 11 saves for the last-place Orioles as the primary ninth-inning arm for Baltimore down the stretch. He has a nice 10.8 career K/9 as well, so Givens will have some low-level appeal for fantasy owners once again in 2020, as he's expected to open the year as their closer. However, on a...

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Mychal Givens blew his sixth save of the season in Sunday's 8-7 win over the Astros. Givens came in for the ninth inning with a two-run lead but allowed three runs on three hits and a hit batsman with one strikeout before getting pulled after getting just one out. Thankfully, his offense came back to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Givens now has a subpar 4.73 ERA with nine of 15 save opportunities converted. He simply hasn't been consistent enough to be ...

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Mychal Givens fell to 1-5 in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Angels. Givens entered the game with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth and the game tied. After working the count full, Givens allowed a walk-off home run to Matt Thaiss to lose the game. Givens has been the closest thing to a closer the O's have had this season but has put up poor numbers, including a 4.54 ERA and 1.21 [...]

The trade deadline approaches and bullpen speculation is running rampant, with the battle for saves likely deciding which spot on the podium you'll stand on. [...]

The Philadelphia Phillies like Baltimore Orioles closer Mychal Givens, according to industry chatter, and the Orioles have him in play as the trade deadline approaches. Philly will be scouting Givens this week after he has performed better of late. He has given up one run in his last six outings over seven innings and has struck out 10 hitters in that span. Givens will be eligible for free agency in 2022 and could provide a contending team with a nice setup man. His value isn't very high right [...]

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Baltimore Orioles closer Mychal Givens picked up his seventh save of the season in Saturday's Game One 2-1 win over the Rays. Givens pitched the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no hits or walks with two strikeouts. Givens now has a 4.50 ERA with 51 strikeouts and 16 walks in 36 IP. He has also blown five saves. [...]

The All-Star Game happened, and it was fun. But then came [...]

The Reds are tinkering with their bullpen which may lead to another committee with a fireman, while the Red Sox, Twins, Rangers, and several others continued with the strategy. In "real life" baseball, the committee approach with a firemanis oftentimes the best strategy, but hoooo boy is it frustrating for fantasy owners.[...]

Hockey is over (congrats, Blues), basketball is done very soon, and football won't start for a while. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage: BASEBALL! School's out, the sun is beating down across America, it's summer folks. And that means baseball takes center stage. This season is already showing the importance of relief pitchers, and the emergence of bullpen committees across the league and more and more teams using openers is rearranging the landscape of relief pitching league wid[...]