The Baltimore Orioles acquired outfielder Taylor Ward from the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez in one of the first big moves of baseball’s offseason.
The 31-year-old Ward hit a career-high 36 home runs this past season, and he’ll join an Orioles team hoping to rebound after falling to last place in the AL East. To get him, Baltimore gave up the oft-injured Rodriguez, who was considered a potential ace for the Orioles but missed the entire 2025 season with elbow and lat problems.
The 26-year-old Rodriguez is 20-8 with a 4.11 ERA in 43 big league starts.
It’s a trade that could be fascinating to look back on a couple of years from now, given Rodriguez’s boom-or-bust potential, but Baltimore clearly was looking for another bat after some of its young hitters disappointed in 2025.
Ward made $7,825,000 last season. He is eligible for arbitration and can become a free agent after the 2026 World Series.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, hasn’t been eligible for arbitration yet. He’s on track for that following the 2026 season.
So the Angels, coming off their own last-place showing in the AL West, get a pitcher with four years of team control and some upside. Rodriguez made his big league debut in 2023. After a rough beginning, he was sent down to the minors, but after being called up again in July that year, he went 18-6 with a 3.35 ERA over his next 33 starts, through the end of that season and the beginning of 2024.
But Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since July 31, 2024. He missed the rest of that season with lat issues, and he never made it to the mound this at all this year. Rodriguez was considered one of the team’s most important players after the Orioles lost Corbin Burnes to free agency after the 2024 season. Without either of them, Baltimore’s pitching staff floundered.
The Orioles have a lot to do to improve their pitching, which makes Rodriguez’s departure such a surprise — but their outfield also could use help after they traded Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano before the July 31 deadline. Colton Cowser is coming off a season when he only played 92 games, and Tyler O’Neill — last offseason’s big outfield addition — appeared in only 54.
Ward surpassed 100 games only once in his first six seasons, but he played 156 in 2024 and 157 in 2025.
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