REACTION: Orioles trade for 36-HR hitter Taylor Ward, Angels receive former top pitching prospect

REACTION: Orioles trade for 36-HR hitter Taylor Ward, Angels receive former top pitching prospect

All right, let’s get going here. While you were watching something else, man, there was some news last night. Telling you, man. Love reading the newspaper. Yeah, this is being reported in newspapers across the country. A major trade executed between the Angels and the Orioles, sending right-hander Grayson Rodriguez to Anaheim in exchange for Taylor Ward, a former firstround draft choice who’s coming off the best year of his pro career in 2025. Massive power numbers. And here it is. It’s a good old-fashioned one for one, each team addressing a need. Ward has one more year left on his deal. He’ll be a free agent at the end of 2026. There’s a lot of contract canvas left on Grayson Rodriguez, having pitched just two seasons in the major league level and most notably missing most of 2025 due to injury. Give me your gutshot reaction when you heard this news. Um, it’s a great trade for both teams. Look, the Angels didn’t want to pay Taylor Ward moving forward. They probably weren’t going to sign him as a free agent and he’s still in that he’s getting bumps through the arbitration system. And then Grayson Rodriguez has been injured. He’s a former number one pick and upside for the Angels is if he’s healthy and he throws well, we got something. He didn’t then he didn’t have to keep the money, you know. So I I I think that opens a lot of doors for both clubs to to be able to have and and on the on the Orioles side, they needed another power hitter. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s good. I like the way it looks for the Orioles with, you know, another power hitter with Colton Cowser like beefing up that lineup. They were still looking to replace the pop of 2024 when Santandere left. I hope they don’t get cute and start platooning Taylor. Uh they love to do that. No, I don’t see that happening at all. That would be a major mistake. Major mistake. And Taylor Ward is going to fit right in the middle of the birds lineup, separating Henderson and the switch hitter Rutman. This is again a guess. We’re not sure it’s going to look exactly like this, but boy, this one through nine looks a lot better than it did before they got Taylor Ward last night. So I I think I like the way you you couch that and saying that it’s a kind of a win-win for both sides. Oh wow, that’s fantastic. It is fantastic because Ward in Baltimore works. Grayson Rodriguez in Anaheim works. And if if he’s healthy, they got a legit guy that can be an ace at some point. There’s some ifs there though, right? A lot of ifs. Uh not only missed most of 2025, missed 2025 while recovering after surgery. Well, and also the thing is he got injured before we could see what he might become. So this isn’t like, oh, Max Sher’s healthy again. You know what you’re going to get. You still have no idea what you’re going to get from Grayson, but you’re betting on the potential. And I would bet on the potential. He’s got tremendous upside. The question is he had the elbow surgery. Will he come back healthy? Right. Cuz when he’s healthy, this kid stuff is electric. Here’s where the Angels are at in my view. They have to be the team that takes the chance. Agree. Right. There’s a little bit more risk involved from the Angels side of this one. High upside, but there is some risk. But they h that’s where they are. They’ve got some overwhelming burden, debt burden with Trout and Rendone. Still more money on the Rendone deal. They’re not in a position where they can spend spend spend to fix holes. They’ve got to try to get creative and take a chance. And I think this categorizes as such. I I think also speaking of Trout, this puts him back in the outfield. Two years removed from the calf injury. I think he plays more in the outfield than you think. I do. Maybe. Okay. that I mean, you know, Ser is back and healthy. He missed most of the second half last year. They gave him I think Mike would like to be in the field. He probably would. Yeah. And you, you know, you got to go ahead and let him do that. Gustavo Compro missed most of the second half as well last year. Denzer Guzman came up late season and and really popped, really flashed. They give Bryce Teodosio a chance in center field last year. So, I guess from the Angel standpoint, once again, m much much of the speculation was going to be which outfielder are they going to trade, Joe Adell or Taylor Ward? We’ve got an answer to that. So, it doesn’t look like Joe Adell is going to get moved. And it makes sense. Joe’s younger. He’s got more time left on his deal. He too is coming off of a career year in 2025. Yeah. And I and I think they would to me I can see Joe moving to the corner. Joe’s better in a corner. Yeah. Yeah. He he he played he was serviceably good in center field but that’s not his spot per se right Kairen Paris is still around like there’s some interesting things there but uh that’s a big deal uh JP Morosei a little less dangerous joining us on the stove on this midweek installment JP good morning let’s set you free on this trade man it was a big one Rodriguez to the Angels in exchange for Taylor Ward go I love it I love it on both sides and let me just tell you this at the outset there is the instinct. And I was there last night on on the X machine getting ready to to chime in on my thoughts about it. This is one of these trades, and this is not me ducking the question, but it’s going to take some time to work through it. And that may sound funny. It’s like, John, you got two players. What is there to to sift through? Well, the health of Grayson Rodriguez is going to basically tell the story on this. And he has not thrown a pitch in more than a year. Uh elbow issues, of course. If Grayson Rodriguez is healthy for the next three to four years, the Angels are going to feel really good about their end of this hot take. It is a hot take. On the opposite side, people might say, “Well, listen, well, what what are the Orioles doing trading pitching when they need pitching?” Well, the reason why this is a good deal for Baltimore is Taylor Ward has played in more than 150 games in each of the last two years. And then in this past year, he went 30 and 100. I know these are oldtimey numbers. Games played, home runs, RBI. Guess what? If you go 30 and 100, you are doing your job for your team as a run producing corner outfielder. And and the Angels had a depth of corner outfielders. They they wanted to be able to play Joe Adele in a corner. So, you trade Taylor Ward. It makes sense on both ends of this. And especially for Baltimore, I I I cannot talk enough about the American League East because I think that as much as we spent some time examining and and praising the Toronto Blue Jays and for very very good reasons. The Blue Jays path though to the playoffs in 26 is going to be a much much bumpier than it was in 25 because Baltimore is going to be better and Tampa Bay is going to be better. And I think there is some is a place here for a veteran and Taylor Ward to show some of these younger players a little more consistency. I I’m a big believer in Baltimore’s lineup in 2026. I think the the the last thing and I’ll let Matt go to to something else, but Taylor Ward hits good pitching. Remember that people, if you’re going to be in the American League East, you better hit good pitching. And Taylor Ward hits good pitching. So, I’ll just throw that little nugget in there.

@MLBNetwork reacts to Orioles acquiring OF Taylor Ward from the Angels for RHP Grayson Rodriguez.

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