Should the Twins Ease Baltimore's Surplus of Exciting Young Outfield Bats?

In his most recent piece at The Athletic, writer and former front office executive Jim Bowden wrote a piece looking at "trade targets for each contender, plus deadline priorities for all 30 teams." In the middle of the article, one will find Bowden's assessment and top needs for the Minnesota Twins, where he suggests that a "[right-handed-hitting] corner outfielder" and "pitching depth" should be the organization's priorities as the trade deadline nears. His reasoning behind this assessment is that the Twins are "looking for a platoon-type corner outfielder who hits right-handed. Like most teams, they also want to add some pitching depth, especially to their starting rotation, to protect from injuries."

Thank you, Jim, for this excellent, in-depth analysis; I am delighted to pay $7.99 per month for this. (I'm just being facetious. Aaron Gleeman, Dan Hayes, and other great regional and national writers and podcasters make the subscription well worth it. Still, please follow and support local and independent writers for better and more thorough analysis than Bowden's. In fact, here comes some, now.)

Regardless, Bowden names Erick Fedde, Patrick Sandoval, Luis Severino, and Trevor Williams (presently on the 15-day IL with a right muscle flexor strain) as pitching depth options. In contrast, he lists Luis Robert Jr., Heston Kjerstad, Randy Arozarena, and Lane Thomas as right-handed hitting corner outfield options. Acquiring Robert Jr. would be an incredi-... Wait, Robert Jr., Kjerstad, Arozarena, and Thomas... This doesn't add up. Oh yes, that's right, Kjerstad isn't right-handed. There is a difference between being pedantic and recognizing when someone is neglectfully wrong. In this instance, I swear, I'm doing the latter. Bowden got a crucial detail wrong.

Nevertheless, he identified left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and top prospect Kjerstad as a potential trade candidate for the Twins. The 25-year-old corner outfielder and first baseman is an intriguing name, for a couple of reasons. Kjerstad, selected second overall by the Orioles in the 2020 MLB Draft, spent the better part of the 2022 and 2023 MiLB seasons excelling in the organization's system, before debuting on Sept. 14, 2023. The University of Arkansas product played in 13 games with the powerhouse Orioles last season, slashing .233/.281/.467, with seven hits, one double, two home runs, two walks, 10 strikeouts, and a 106 OPS+ over 30 plate appearances.

Kjerstad didn't make the team's playoff roster, and started the 2024 season with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides before he was recalled in late April. In seven games with Baltimore spanning from late April to early May, MLB.com's 21st-ranked prospect slashed .143/.294/.143, with two hits, zero doubles, zero home runs, two walks, six strikeouts, and an uninspiring 34 OPS+ over 17 plate appearances. The power-hitting lefty performed poorly in an exceptionally small sample size and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in favor of fellow left-handed hitting outfield prospect Kyle Stowers. Kjerstad has struggled to find his footing at the major-league level. Yet, with Baltimore having a short leash and providing him only 47 plate appearances with the parent club over the past two seasons combined, it is nearly impossible to adequately assess how the former first-round pick will perform at the highest level.

Despite not receiving an extended look with the Orioles (while other left-hitting outfielders Colton Cowser and the aforementioned Stowers have), Kjerstad has performed exceptionally well at Triple-A over the past two seasons, slashing a combined .306/.384/.564, with 148 hits, 33 doubles, and 25 home runs, plus 55 walks and 129 strikeouts over 564 plate appearances. Mixing a high on-base percentage with a high slugging average, Kjerstad has become one of the most dangerous offensive players in MiLB.

Over the past two seasons at Triple-A, Kjerstad has generated a modest 23.3% strikeout rate. However, his strikeout rate tends to jump when promoted. In those two very brief stints with the Orioles, he's fanned in 32% of his trips to the plate. This deficiency appears to be the driving force behind the Orioles' reluctance to provide the power-hitting lefty an extended opportunity in "The Show." Kjerstad has performed like a high-strikeout, high-power corner outfielder in his brief stints in MLB. Although this type of player prototype strikes a chord with Twins fans (hello, Joey Gallo and Matt Wallner), it is vital not to misidentify him as an all-or-nothing bat. He has never finished a minor-league season with a strikeout rate above 27%, which suggests that his bloated rate over 47 MLB plate appearances is an inaccurate representation of his skillset.

Kjerstad deserves an extended look in MLB, yet with Cowser, Stowers, Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle, and other valuable MLB contributors, it appears that opportunity might not come any time soon in Baltimore. With Wallner and Alex Kirilloff struggling to produce at the major-league level this season; Trevor Larnach being an unpredictable source of offensive contribution who could seemingly regress at any moment; and the organization lacking other minor-league left-handed outfielders who could step in and immediately produce offensively, the Twins could be incentivized to trade for Kjerstad. If Kirilloff is on the outs (as you'd expect, at this point), the appeal of such a move increases.

Despite Baltimore's surplus of prospects and the public perception of Kjerstad likely being lower than it should be after he struggled earlier this season, the cost to acquire the 2020 second-overall pick will undoubtedly be hefty. The Orioles are a well-rounded team without a glaring weakness. However, if there were one area of concern for Baltimore, it would be the back end of their bullpen. Despite ranking sixth in Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR) and fourth in bullpen FIP as a collective, their top late-inning arms are Craig Kimbrel, Cionel Pérez, Jacob Webb, and a regressing yet still productive Yennier Canó. The Orioles would benefit from acquiring a bona fide closer and potentially another a high-leverage set-up reliever, and although fire-throwing arms like Mason Miller, Edwin Díaz, and Ryan Helsley are enticing, acquiring their services would require taking on a hefty price tag or parting ways with multiple top prospects.

The Orioles have the resources to acquire relievers the likes of Miller, Díaz, and Helsley. However, the Twins could present the most intriguing trade candidate, in Griffin Jax. Under control until the end of the 2027 MLB season, Jax becomes arbitration-eligible this offseason, meaning the price of retaining his services will gradually increase over the next three seasons. The Twins are a stingy organization, and they are particularly frugal regarding relievers. The Twins could trade Jax and another near-MLB-ready arm like Louie Varland (whom Baltimore could transition into a full-time reliever), David Festa, or Zebby Matthews to acquire the high-ceiling Kjerstad, who is under team control until the end of the 2029 season.

Landing Kjerstad could be a pivotal move for the Twins in the short and longer term, as he could become an immediate contributor for the present-day, playoff-hopeful 2024 team with the potential of becoming a mainstay in an idealized future outfield with veteran Byron Buxton and fellow highly-touted and developing left-handed hitting prospects Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins.