The Baltimore Orioles made two decisions yesterday, as they declined the option for Ryan Mountcastle and released Heston Kjerstad, making both players free agents. For years, both of players were viewed as important pieces of Baltimore’s future, with Mountcastle becoming a mainstay in the lineup for several years and Kjerstad, being drafted’ 2nd overall in 2020, representing one of the Orioles most highly regarded prospects. However, they’ll have to look for new homes in 2027 as the Orioles decided to move in a different direction
Mountcastle’s departure marks the end of an era for one of the players who contributed a lot to the organization and multiple rebuilding seasons. Mountcastle was able to add some power in the middle of the lineup and delivered at crucial times when the Orioles needed him. However, injuries have gotten better of him the last few years, and the Orioles need to add a consistent player who can be on the roster the full year and Mountcastle was not cutting it out to no fault of his own.
As for Kjerstad, he was selected as the 2nd Overall pick in 2020, being drafted before 2 future all stars in Garrett Crochet and Pete Crow Armstrong. Kjerstad never fully materialized and came into his own with the opportunities they gave him, and he was never able to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. It will be interesting to see where these two wind up next year, but if they have the same track record that other recent Orioles cast offs have, then we’ll probably see them in the World Series next year
