Orioles reach agreement with reliever Mychal Givens

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias stated after trading Mychal Givens at the 2020 deadline that the reliever would be “an Oriole for life.”

“He’s going to be part of this organization well after he retires,” Elias said in a video call with the local media. “He’s meant a lot to our organization on and off the field for a really long time, and we’re going to miss him.”

He wasn't gone that long.

Givens is coming back to the Orioles before moving onto the next phase of his professional life.

The right-hander and former second-round draft pick has agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option pending a physical, according to an industry source.

The Orioles haven’t announced the deal, but MLB Network’s Mark Feinsand reported that Givens will receive $3 million next season and an additional $1 million if he declines his side of the 2024 option. Givens nets $2 million if he exercises the option and the Orioles decline it.

Elias didn’t prioritize a reliever during the offseason but expressed interest in acquiring a veteran. Givens, 32, returns to the Orioles after they selected him as a shortstop out of H.B. Plant High School in Tampa in 2009 and soon began the process of moving him to the bullpen.

Givens posted a 3.32 ERA and 1.137 WHIP in six seasons and 296 games with the Orioles before he was dealt to the Rockies for infielders Terrin Vavra and Tyler Nevin and outfielder Mishael Deson.

There hasn’t been much stability for Givens since he left.

The Rockies traded Givens to the Reds in July 2021. The Cubs signed him as a free agent in March 2022 and traded him to the Mets five months later, reuniting him with former Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Givens, 32, was the longest tenured member of the Orioles pitching staff when Elias sent him to Colorado. He was a middle-innings weapon for Showalter, who also had Zack Britton, Darren O’Day and Brad Brach in the bullpen, but he struggled in the closer role.

Givens owns a career 2.72 ERA in the seventh inning, a 3.10 ERA in the eighth and a 4.62 ERA in the ninth. He also seemed to lose effectiveness when pushed into multiple innings.

His worst season with the Orioles came in 2019, when he notched 11 saves but also had a 4.57 ERA and 1.190 WHIP with 13 home runs allowed in 58 games. Manager Brandon Hyde altered how he used the ‘pen in 2020, and Givens registered a 1.38 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in 12 games before the trade.

The Orioles will need to make a corresponding move on the 40-man roster to accommodate Givens, who can work in a setup role behind closer Félix Bautista.

The bullpen was a surprising strength this summer with a 3.49 ERA that ranked ninth in the majors but began to show some cracks down the stretch.