There are plenty of rumors floating around between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles on a possible deal for pitching. Those rumors included reliever Brad Brach earlier, but he was traded to the Atlanta Braves last night. Now industry sources are saying that the Pirates could be interested in starter Kevin Gausman and reliever Mychal Givens.
Byron Kerr, who works for MASN, threw this rumors out. I’d say the possible returns he mentions are just blind speculation based to the top ten prospects list for the Pirates.
Hearing talks are progressing between #Pirates and #Orioles for Gausman and possibly Givens. Orioles focusing on Infield which could include ke’bryan Hayes and DR SS Oniel Cruz according to industry source. Nothing imminent
— Byron Kerr (@ByronKerr) July 30, 2018
Steven Nesbitt mentions Gausman and Givens as possible returns for the Pirates. He also has an industry source, which would almost certainly be someone outside the Pirates because they don’t leak trade information. Could be the same source as Kerr.
The Pirates are interested in RHPs Kevin Gausman and Mychal Givens, says an industry source. O’s have done background work on a few prospects in recent days. Nothing imminent, but it would bolster Pirates’ depth.
Wade Miley explains why one might want Gausman: https://t.co/CUxhTjKHdA
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) July 30, 2018
Jon Heyman confirms that Pirates are among many teams looking for relief help. You’ll have to look up the names he mentions if you’re interested because it’s too many for me to list individually.
contenders still seeking relief: red sox, braves, cubs, mariners, phillies, pirates, dbacks, dodgers. many mentioned on market: yates, kela, iglesias, diekman, steckenrider, barraclough, conley, clippard, avilan, loup, givens, romo, alvarez, duke, ziegler, avilan, axford, rodney.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018
All the Gausman talk started with MLB Network back on the 23rd, doing a segment about him as someone the Pirates should go after on this market. Shortly after that, Ken Rosenthal mentioned that the Pirates were looking for controllable starting pitching and from the reports about Brach, we already knew that the Pirates were scouting the Orioles, so all of the pieces fit.
Gausman is a 27-year-old right-hander, who will still have two years left before free agency after 2018. He’s making 5.6 M this year, with the high price due to him being a Super 2 player. This season he has a 4.43 ERA and a 4.58 FIP, with 104 strikeouts and a 1.38 WHIP in 124 innings. He had a 4.68 ERA and a 4.48 FIP last year, with a higher strikeout rate, picking up 179 in 186.2 innings. He also had a higher WHIP due to 71 walks, so he has made a nice improvement in that area. In 763.2 innings over 127 starts and 23 relief appearances during his career (all with Baltimore), he has a 4.22 ERA, a 4.16 FIP, a 1.35 WHIP and 697 strikeouts.
Givens will still have three years left after 2018. The 28-year-old righty has a 4.78 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in 52.2 innings, but it comes with a 2.99 FIP and 58 strikeouts, so he has pitched better than the results indicate. He’s also pitched better in the past, with a 3.02 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and 280 strikeouts over 204 appearances and 234 innings.
If more trade winds blow about a possible Pirates/Orioles deal, we will add them here. 25 1/2 hours until the deadline…
Not Orioles related, but Joel Sherman hears that the Pirates inquired about Chris Archer
1. Lots of teams still asking about Archer, my biggest surprise was to hear #Pirates have inquired. Also #Braves, #Padres. Belief that #Brewers, #Athletics and #Yankees also have touched base, at minimum.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 30, 2018
Jon Heyman said there could be something behind Archer rumor, but he’s hearing nothing on Pirates and Gausman.
There are definite sign Pirates are in on Archer (h/t @Joelsherman1) but they don’t appear to be in on Gausman, despite reports
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018
Marc Topkins from the Tampa Bay Times says that the Rays have asked for final offers for teams on Archer
Hearing couple things out there regarding #Rays: A) That they've asked teams for final offers on Archer, and B} that Romo is being discussed by "lots of teams" More here https://t.co/iijR41MBBy
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 30, 2018
UPDATE: 7:17 PM: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Pirates and Padres are in talks currently and the Pirates are aggressively pursuing pitching help. He doesn’t have any exact targets, but throws out the name Craig Stammen as someone they have liked in the past. As always, stay tuned. 20 hours and 43 minutes left.
#Pirates have aggressively pursued #Padres’ pitching, sources tell me and @RobBiertempfel. Exact targets unclear, but PIT has liked RHP Craig Stammen in past. Team active on multiple fronts.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2018
