The Orioles turned plenty of heads when they selected Heston Kjerstad with the number two pick in the 2020 draft. While Mike Elias insisted the Orioles felt Kjerstad was their guy, it immediately became clear that Baltimore intended to manipulate their draft spending pool.
MLB.com had Kjerstad projected as the 10th pick in the draft, while Baseball America projected the Arkansas outfielder at 13. The Orioles signed Kjerstad to a $5.2 million bonus that checked in well below the slot value of $7,789,900. Baltimore clearly felt they could use the extra cash to steal some value later in the draft.