Some O's clubhouse reactions to the Rogers addition and impending deadline

Orioles rookie Heston Kjerstad was a part of the Triple-A Norfolk team last year that ended up winning the Triple-A championship. He was with the Orioles when the Tides won that title in late September, but the lineup that night for the Tides included infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers, who were traded today to the Marlins for lefty pitcher Trevor Rogers.

That lineup also included Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo and Joey Ortiz.

It's easy to see how that team won a title.

Today Kjerstad is still an Oriole, but the other two are not.

“Norby and Stowers have been awesome. Not only great friends to me but great baseball players,” Kjerstad said this afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse. “They’re going to go on and have great big league careers. They’ve been fun to watch play.

“Stowers is a kind of a profile to me, power left-handed bat. Really good guy to be around. And you know, Norby, that guy’s a ballplayer. He’s going to show up and hit the ball around the yard and hit a lot of doubles and hit some homers. It was fun playing with them.

“It’s part of the game. There are a lot of guys you play with, you only get to play with them a month, maybe a year or two or three years with some guys. It is all part of the game. It’s kind of weird when it happens in the middle of the year as part of the trade deadline. It is a part of the profession and we all know what this job entails. We know what we signed up for.”

Kjerstad said he had some contact with both players today as they left the O’s organization.

“I hit them up," he said. "They are kind of in a whirlwind right now, probably trying to figure some stuff out, moving cities, moving teams.

“Some things are short-lived, whether it’s your time playing the game or your time with a team. You have to enjoy every moment you have.”

As for the new players added in Zach Eflin, Seranthony Domínguez, Cristian Pache and Rogers, Kjerstad hopes the club got some help beyond just this season.

“It is setting the team up for, not only this postseason run, but hopefully successful years to follow,” he said.

Ryan Mountcastle was asked about today's deal with Miami.

“I think it’s a good addition to the team," he said. "Going to miss the guys we dealt, but super excited to have him. I was pretty close to both of them (leaving the club). For them to leave is not always fun, but they'll get a good chance over there I believe."

Some players will for sure be happy when the deadline comes and goes.

"I think everybody in this clubhouse is just sort of anxious to see what happens," he said, "but once it’s over, we’re excited to get back to playing good baseball and trying to win games."

Outfielder Cedric Mullins was asked how the team has handled the trade deadline this year.

"Yeah, we noticed yesterday Justin Turner was out there and then he wasn't," he said. "That buildup is always something that puts people on edge. We're on the cusp of the end of it and we're going out there to try and win games."

Eflin, who made his O's debut Monday, talked about Rogers' addition.

"I think at the end of the day we're all just going to bring competitiveness and learn from each other and feed off each other," he said. "It will be fun to welcome him to the staff. With that said, I'm three days old here. Going to be a lot of fun to go to work with him."