Colorado Rockies trade analysis: Mychal Givens to the Cincinnati Reds, prospects return

The Colorado Rockies have made their first trade before the 2021 Major League Baseball trade deadline, reportedly sending Mychal Givens to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for two pitching prospects.

While the Rockies have not officially confirmed the deal as of the time of this writing, multiple outlets, including MLB.com Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding, are reporting it through social media.

While the Rockies are sending Givens to the Reds, Cincinnati is trading two young pitching prospects in Noah Davis and Case Williams.

The trade return is intriguing both for the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies

We have discussed how Trevor Story could be a fit for the Cincinnati Reds in these two articles since the Reds have struggled at shortstop but we mentioned that Case Williams has been mentioned as a possible player that the Rockies would want back in any deal with the Reds.

The Colorado Rockies drafted Williams in the fourth round of last year’s draft but the Rockies traded him to the Reds in the Jeff Hoffman deal. Hoffman and Williams went to the Reds and Robert Stephenson and minor league outfielder Jameson Hannah came back to the Rockies.

Williams, 19, was born in Akron, Ohio (south of Cleveland) but he was raised in Colorado. He graduated from Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, a southern suburb of Denver.

Williams was the Reds #20 prospect and in his first year pitching professionally, he has struggled a bit in Single-A Daytona. He went 2-5 with a 5.55 ERA there in 12 games (11 starts). He possesses an above-average fastball and curveball but a below-average changeup. Since he was drafted out of high school, he will definitely need many years to develop in the Rockies minor league system but considering that he is familiar with the Colorado altitude, it could be something that benefits him.

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Also in the deal is right-handed pitcher Noah Davis. Davis, 24, also was pitching for the Reds in Advanced-A Dayton (yes, the Reds have affiliates in Dayton, OH and Daytona, FL) and he was the Reds #26 prospect.

The Reds drafted him out of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber came out of as well as former Rockies outfielder and current Rockies broadcaster Ryan Spilborghs as well as former All-Star pitchers Barry Zito, Jerry Reuss, and Larry Dierker.

Davis possesses a four-pitch mix including an average fastball, slider, and changeup as well as a slightly below-average curveball. With the pandemic and having Tommy John surgery in 2018, the Reds haven’t seen a ton of Davis but MLB.com defines his ceiling as a back-end starter.

As Thomas Harding noted on Twitter, while some fans may not be happy with the return for Givens, Rockies ace, Germán Márquez, was the Rays #25 prospect when the Rockies acquired him in 2016.

For the Reds, Givens provides them some desperately needed bullpen help. The Reds acquired two relievers from the Yankees on Tuesday but given that their bullpen ERA (5.36) is the worst in all of baseball on the season, it was obvious that the Reds needed an overall there if they plan on making the playoffs.

Rox Pile’s Noah Yingling also contributed to this article.