Marlins starters popular trade targets?

Mychal Givens was a popular figure in trade speculation before the Rockies acquired him from the Orioles earlier Sunday, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reports that the Marlins were one of the clubs that also had an interest in Givens. With Givens now off the board, the Fish will keep pursuing relief pitching help, and Rosenthal notes that, unsurprisingly, Miami’s “young starting pitchers are popular with other clubs.” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (Twitter links) reports that the Marlins have thus far been asked about the likes of Elieser Hernandez, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Trevor Rogers, but the Fish have thus far been resistant to such demands.

Caleb Smith could potentially be a different story, as Frisaro tweets that Miami is at least “exploring his market” with potential suitors. It remains to be seen if the Marlins will actually send any of these young arms elsewhere, although it’s worth remembering that last year’s trade deadline saw Miami send a young starter in Trevor Richards (as well as a very notable young reliever in Nick Anderson) to the Rays for a reliever in Ryne Stanek and an outfield prospect in Jesus Sanchez. One would imagine the Marlins would only move any of Hernandez, Cabrera, etc. if they could land a similarly controllable piece back, rather than a rental player.

More from around the NL East…

• Ronald Acuna Jr. left Sunday night’s game “as a precaution with right hamstring tightness,” according to the Braves’ official update. Acuna has already missed a good chunk of the season with a wrist injury, and another injured list visit (especially over something as potentially pesky as a hamstring issue) would leave the Braves without their best player for much of the stretch drive. More will be known once Acuna is tested, although in the short term, one wonders if this could lead Atlanta to look into adding a bat as a security measure by Monday’s trade deadline.
• The Braves acquired Tommy Milone from the Orioles on Sunday but aren’t likely to stop there in their pursuit of starting pitching, as reporter Robert Murray tweets that Atlanta has considered “every starter imaginable.“
• The Mets’ deadline wish list includes a catcher and pitching (both starting and relieving) help, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. Perhaps in a related item, Rosenthal writes that the Red Sox have been “doing background on Mets minor-leaguers,” which could hint at a potential trade. Rosenthal figures Christian Vazquez would be a natural fit to address the Mets’ catching needs, and we’ve already heard that the Sox have discussed Vazquez with the Rays in recent days. Speculatively, such Red Sox hurlers as Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, or Ryan Brasier could potentially be on the Mets’ radar, though the Sox just lost potential trade chip Nathan Eovaldi to the injured list.