The Orioles and Angels made an odd swap of players:

The Baltimore Orioles acquired outfielder Taylor Ward from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez on Tuesday night, an intriguing one-for-one swap that filled clear needs for both teams.

The Orioles went into the offseason seeking a power-hitting outfielder and get one in Ward, who is entering his final season before free agency. The Angels sought a top-of-the-rotation starter and hope to get one in Rodriguez, a once-promising prospect who spent the 2025 season sidelined by injury.

ESPN.com

The article paints Ward in a rather favorable light, and it’s true that he produced consecutive seasons of a little under 3.0 fWAR. His best season, however, came in 2022 at seasonal age 28. His OBP declined every year since, and so far he balanced that with an increase in power. He became an easy out when not hitting home runs. If the power declines, he becomes a poor player. On top of that, he will be a free agent at the end of the 2026 season, so the Orioles are really just renting him for a year, hoping for the best.

This really makes me believe that the Orioles don’t believe Rodriguez works as a long-term solution. At seasonal age 26 in 2026 , he remains in his early prime.

The Orioles already were expected to be among the more aggressive teams for starting pitching this offseason, and Rodriguez’s departure makes that need even more acute.

It looks like he had more upside than downside, and should have been worth more than an aging one-year rental. Anaheim tends not to be a place where starting pitchers thrive, but at first glance, this could turn out to be great deal for the Angels. We won’t know how this moves fits in with the Orioles plans for 2026 until we see what other moves the team makes in the coming months.