Chicago Cubs: Three players to target ahead of the trade deadline

Chicago Cubs could add another high-upside arm in Mychal Givens

Swing-and-miss stuff. The Cubs bullpen could certainly use some more of that and Baltimore right-hander Mychal Givens could be the answer.

The Orioles aren’t going anywhere (sorry, #Birdland). Building for the future is the name of the game and it’s pretty unlikely Givens is a part of said future. The righty has four scoreless outings to his credit in 2020 – and some of his outlying metrics indicate that’s no fluke.

Givens ranks in the 91st percentile in strikeout rate, 92nd percentile in whiff rate and 76th percentile in xBA. The contact that has been made against him has been solid, though – which could be viewed one of two ways: 1) it’s worrisome and is a huge red flag given it was an issue last year, as well. 2) the Cubs are shopping the clearance rack and this could drive his price down to a more palatable cost.

It’s been a few years since the 30-year-old was viewed as a legitimate ninth-inning option. But the stuff is there and working with Tommy Hottovy and the Cubs’ Pitch Lab, I can’t help but wonder if this could be another heist Theo and the front office could pull off, similar to the one that brought Pedro Strop to Chicago.