Inside The Orioles

Orioles Rising Star Predicted To Be Traded for Pitching Help This Season

The Baltimore Orioles could be shipping away one of their former top prospects this offseason in hopes to add to their pitching staff.

Dylan Sanders

Sep 21, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad (13) singles during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Sep 21, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad (13) singles during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
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The Baltimore Orioles have not made any major trades since last year, but that could change some time soon.

CBS Sports' Mike Axisa recently came up with one major prediction for each MLB team. For the Orioles, it was that they would end up trading outfielder Heston Kjerstad in exchange for a new pitcher.

Baltimore was unable to bring Corbin Burnes back to their starting rotation this offseason and did not make any major moves to round out the pitching staff.

They did sign Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano, but that was just enough to fill their rotation out. The Orioles are still lacking a true ace.

Trading away Kjerstad is something that has been floated for a while now. He is 26 and has graduated from prospect status, but still doesn't have a clear path to playing time.

While he still has some trade value, they might as well take advantage and use him as a centerpiece to a deal that could improve another spot on the roster.

The outfielder has a career .248/.336/.411 slash with six home runs and a 116 OPS+ over his first 52 career games.

He has proven that he is beyond minor league pitching after a .303/.401/.584 slash last year, his second campaign in a row around that mark.

The options right now seem to be sit him on the bench and give him spot starts throughout the season, or trade him away.

A couple of spots in the outfield could be up for grabs next year, but that seems like a waste of time. Especially since there will just be a few more young outfielders making a push for his spot soon after.

That just leaves the question of who they should try to trade for. The two best pitchers that are expected to be traded this season are San Diego Padres ace Dylan Cease and a former NL Cy Young winner in Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins.

Both would be great options and Kjerstad would make sense for those teams to trade for.

Cease would be a bit cheaper to trade for, but they risk a repeat of the Burnes situation seeing as though he is on the final year of team control.

Alcantara would take considerably more, but is also a proven elite pitcher that could be around through 2027 with a team option.

Either one would be a fantastic and much-needed addition to the staff. Also both quite worth trading away Kjerstad.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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