The Orioles announced a slew of roster moves today, activating three trade acquisitions. Outsiders Eloy Jimenez again Austin Slater and the left hand Trevor Rogers they have now been listed and the club has brought back a midfielder Liván Soto. One position is opened by placing a midfielder Jordan Westburg on the 10-day injured list with a broken right hand, a development reported yesterday. To open the other three areas, choose to use the left Keegan Akin and foreign player Heston Kjerstad and designated foreign player Christian Pache by share. Vinny Nittoliwho was selected for an assignment last week, chose a free association instead of accepting a direct assignment.
The Orioles made a surprising outfield shuffle in the week leading up to the deadline. It started with significant deletions, such as Austin Hays was sent to the Phillies, returning with a reliever Seranthony Domínguez and Patch. Baltimore’s roster is loaded with infield talent and the outfield looked solid without Hays, including Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, Anthony Santander and Kjerstad. Since Pache is the first glove guy, he may have been ticketed for a bench role.
But in the closing moments of the deadline, the O’s reacquired Jiménez from the White Sox and Slater from the Reds. Since Slater is often regarded as a solid defender and a very good striker, they probably thought he was an upgrade over Pache in a role coming off the bench.
That would be an understandable stance to take, given that Pache has struggled to perform well in the batter’s box. He was once considered one of the top 10 prospects in all of baseball during his time in the Atlanta program as he was believed to have the ability to be an all-around contributor. While his speed and defense have been touted, his hitting has been poor. He hit .181/.244/.274 in his first 546 major league plate appearances. He exercised his final option season in 2022, a year in which he hit .248/.298/.389 with a 68 wRC+ at the Triple-A level.
But he continued to get work because of his glove. In over 1,300 innings in the outfield, he has compiled 12 Defensive Runs Saved and 16 Outs Above Average. Oakland acquired him from Atlanta as part of the Matt Olson trade but was thrown to the Phillies at the beginning of last year, the Phils were always sitting on the bench as they had no more opportunities and could not be relegated to minor players without being declared waived. The O’s seem to be interested in a similar role for him but may decide to move on when Slater becomes available.
Since the deadline has passed, the O’s will not have the ability to trade Pache elsewhere. He will be available for free to all 29 clubs at some point in the coming days as Baltimore will have no choice but to waive him. Maybe another team will look at him based on his previous pedigree and solid floor given his glove work. Many clubs have roster spots after the deadline and may find a spot for him. As mentioned, he has no options left but is still in the pre-intervention phase of his career. If he earns a roster spot somewhere, he can be kept in arbitration for three seasons after this one.
Kjerstad’s dismissal is surprising given that he has been doing well, but also not surprising because he is not starting. This will be his third option of the year, as he was sent down before Opening Day, recalled in late April and picked up again in mid-May before being called up again in late June. In 81 major league plate appearances, he struck out 29.6% of the time but also drew walks at an 11.1% rate and hit .261/.370/.420 with a wRC+ of 125.
Despite that strong performance, a host of talented position players let him down in Norfolk once again. Maybe it’s weird to see him get fired for guys like Jiménez and Slater, but the deadline was the last chance to add talent in a meaningful way. IO’s took that chance even though it meant rolling a guy like Kjerstad into a deep role for now, and those new additions are probably looking at temporary roles anyway.
Slater has a .274/.364/433 batting line and 122 wRC+ against lefties compared to a .226/.316/.334 line and 84 wRC+ against righties. Jiménez is having a rough season overall but is hitting .304/.360/.370 against southpaws this year with a wRC+ of 109. The two will be in short tag team matches, with Jiménez helping to protect Ryan O’Hearn. from lefties while Slater defends Mullins. O’Hearn hit .259/.286/.296 with a 67 wRC+ this year in the team’s no-hitter while Mullins is at .141/.164/.211 with a wRC+ of 3.
Rather than let Kjerstad gather dust on the bench, the O’s will get him regular work for the Tides again, at least until injuries change the equation down the line. Even if he is not involved with a big league club this year, he should have a better way in 2025 as Santander is set to be offered for free. Jiménez has a $16.5MM club option but the O’s will likely pick up a $3MM club option instead.
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