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Orioles withdraw contract offer to Plant's Givens

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TBO.com

Published: August 13, 2009

The Baltimore Orioles have withdrawn their offer to second-round pick Mychal Givens, meaning the Plant High prospect will probably accept a scholarship to play for Oklahoma State University.

The Orioles and Givens could not agree on a deal as Monday's deadline to sign draftees passed, according to The Baltimore Sun and masn.com.

"I just didn't feel like there was going to be enough concession on their side or mine," Orioles amateur scouting director Joe Jordan told the Sun. "I have other things I can do to add talent to this system. I couldn't do that with this as my focus."

Givens, the 54th overall selection in June's first-year draft, told the Sun the Orioles knew what type of deal he was asking for when he was drafted. Jordan didn't disagree, but told masn.com he never intended to match that number.

"They haven't really given me an offer to negotiate," Givens said. "There's no excitement for me. The only thing I was excited about was to play for the Orioles and play the position of Cal Ripken, who was the greatest shortstop I looked up to, and to play for the great fans there and to and play against the Yankees and Red Sox and hopefully beat them and win a World Series in a few years."

Baseball America reported the Major League Baseball slot recommendation to sign the 54th pick this year was $663,000. Givens would not tell masn.com whether he was seeking "first-round" money.

Jordan decided to spend his remaining time before the deadline signing other picks. The Orioles will receive the sixth pick in 2010's second round as compensation for not signing Givens.

Givens, a right-handed pitcher and shortstop, was rated the nation's 46th best prospect by Baseball America, and was one of the Tampa Bay area's most decorated players. He twice represented the United States, playing for the youth and junior national teams. He also was selected to play last summer in the Aflac All-American and Under Armour All-American games, two prestigious national all-star games for high school players.

As a senior, Givens helped the Panthers reach the state tournament for the first time since 1990. He went 8-4 with a 1.71 ERA on the mound, while hitting .374 with four home runs and 31 RBIs.

Givens was named the state's Class 5A player of the year and was one of six finalists for the Florida's Mr. Baseball Award.

Givens also was the 2008 recipient of the Jackie Robinson Award, given annually to the nation's top rising senior baseball player.

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