Wellington Aracena Gives Orioles High-Upside Pitcher Their Farm System Needs

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, the Baltimore Orioles have started to become sellers like many expected.

Due to their struggles in the first half of the season, the Orioles are well under .500 at this point, so becoming a seller was the wise thing to do.

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Baltimore has a plethora of veteran talent they can move, and that process has seemingly begun.

The Orioles traded Gregory Soto to the New York Mets in exchange for prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster.

For the Mets, they had a massive need to improve their bullpen, so getting a talented left-hander with the ability to make batters swing and miss is a good addition.

With a strikeout per nine rate of 10.9, the southpaw is going to be able to come in and help improve the bullpen unit for New York.

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For the Orioles, they are getting a decent package in return, highlighted by Aracena.

The 20-year-old right-hander was ranked as the 19th-best prospect for the Mets and will give Baltimore more pitching depth, which is something they desperately needed.

In Single-A this season, Aracena has totaled a 2.38 ERA in 64.1 innings pitched, with 2025 being a significant step in the right direction for the right-hander.

Based on that massive step forward in his development, this is a great addition for the Orioles.

As such a young pitcher, the timeline for a potential call-up to the Majors is going to be years away. However, he has flashed a lot of upside so far with a strikeout per nine rate of 11.8, something Baltimore will have to continue developing as he climbs up the farm system ladder.

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Foster is a bit more of a journeyman in the organization for New York, but has performed well mostly in Double-A this campaign. Overall, he has totaled a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched.

Overall, while Foster might be a bit of a throw-in for the deal, Aracena is a very appealing prospect the Orioles received for Soto.

Baltimore appears like they acquired a talented young pitcher for a rental arm, which is exactly what the organization should be doing ahead of the deadline.

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