The Orioles are protecting right-hander Cameron Foster and outfielder Reed Trimble in the Rule 5 Draft.

Foster and Trimble had their contracts selected and were placed on the 40-man roster earlier today. Outfielder Pedro León and infielder Luis Vázquez were designated for assignment to create room.

Foster, 26, and right-hander Wellington Aracena were acquired from the Mets at the trade deadline for left-handed reliever Gregory Soto. Foster made 13 relief appearances with Triple-A Norfolk and posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.375 WHIP in 16 innings, with eight walks and 23 strikeouts. He has a 3.75 ERA in 79 minor league games and 215 strikeouts over 199 1/3 innings.

Trimble, 25, was a second-round pick in the 2021 draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi. He’s a career .251/.344/.420 hitter in five minor league seasons and has stolen 61 bases without being caught.

Trimble batted .259/.319/.435 this year in 30 games with Norfolk and .257/.352/.503 in 53 games with Double­-A Chesapeake. He plays all three outfield positions.

Among the 16 minor leaguers that the Orioles acquired at this year’s trade deadline, five of them can be found among Baltimore’s top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Slater de Brun, selected with the draft pick acquired by sending Bryan Baker to the Rays, makes six. 

de Brun and Boston Bateman, the headliner of the trade that sent Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano to the Padres, are both ranked in the top 10. Juaron Watts-Brown joins a group of excellent starting pitching prospects in Double-A. 

But it’s three unranked deadline acquisitions, Anthony Nunez, Tyson Neighbors and Cameron Foster, that could make the biggest impacts in Baltimore next season. 

Why, then, are the three pitching prospects relatively unheralded?

Typically, in prospect rankings, more stock is put into arms with a starter’s upside than those that are already coming out of the bullpen in the minor leagues. If the starter fails to reach his potential, the “fallback” is in the bullpen. 

The Orioles acquired reliever Gregory Soto at last year’s trade deadline. Today, they’ve moved him to another team.

Soto is going to the Mets for a pair of pitching prospects, according to a source.

The left-hander is the second player moved after reliever Bryan Baker, traded to the Rays on July 10 for the 37^th-overall pick in the draft. The Orioles will receive 20-year-old right-hander Wellington Aracena and 26-year-old right-hander Cameron Foster in exchange for Soto.

Aracena is the Mets’ No. 19 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The Dominican native had a 2.38 ERA and 1.135 WHIP in 17 games (eight starts) with Single-A St. Lucie in the Florida State League. He didn’t surrender a home run in 64 1/3 innings and averaged 4.9 walks and 11.8 strikeouts.

Over four minor league seasons, Aracena has a 4.53 ERA and 1.497 WHIP in 57 games (34 starts) and has walked 123 batters and struck out 214 in 173 innings. He’s surrendered only six home runs.