Baltimore Orioles Send Down Top Prospect Heston Kjerstad, Dump Cristian Pache

Trade deadline acquisitions Eloy Jiménez, Trevor Rogers, Austin Slater and Livan Soto are set to join the Baltimore Orioles, bumping Heston Kjerstad, Cristian Pache and others off the roster.

Jul 24, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Heston Kjerstad (13) strikes out in the second inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have announced a flurry of roster moves in the wake of the trade deadline.

The team acquired designated hitter/outfielder Eloy Jiménez from the Chicago White Sox, left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins and infielder Livan Soto and outfielder Austin Slater from the Cincinnati Reds on deadline day alone. They previously added right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays and traded outfielder Austin Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for relief pitcher Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache the week before.

Baltimore shipped out a handful of players in order to reel in all that talent, but they still had quite the roster crunch on their hands entering Thursday's series opener against the Cleveland Guardians.

One roster spot was opened up by infielder Jordan Westburg, who hit the 10-day injured list with a fractured right hand. Pache, meanwhile, was designated for assignment less than a week after getting traded to the Orioles.

Baltimore then optioned outfielder Heston Kjerstad and left-handed pitcher Keegan Akin to Triple-A Norfolk.

That allowed the Orioles to activate Jiménez, Rogers and Slater, on top of recalling Soto from Triple-A Norfolk. Rogers is starting Baltimore's game against the Guardians on Thursday.

We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/KGvRow6wL1

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 1, 2024

Losing Westburg to the injured list is not ideal, considering the second-year infielder made his first All-Star appearance in July, but that move was out of the Orioles' control. Pache was also seen as a throwaway add-on in the Hays deal, as the 25-year-old is a career .181 hitter across 216 MLB games.

Kjerstad, however, was the No. 4 prospect in Baltimore's farm system and the No. 21 prospect in baseball when he last got promoted. And while he hit .143 with a .437 OPS in his first big league stint earlier this season, he was batting .291 with an .882 OPS since rejoining the roster on June 24.

Akin had also been putting up solid numbers, going 2-0 with a 3.34 ERA, 0.971 WHIP, 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.8 WAR through 47 MLB appearances this season. The 29-year-old southpaw owned a 0.90 ERA, 0.600 WHIP and .118 batting average against since July 12.

Two more months remain on the regular season schedule, giving the Orioles plenty of time to sort things out amidst their push for a second consecutive AL East crown. In that time, Baltimore's front office will be tasked with finding the best possible home for all the talent within their organization.

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