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.