The Los Angeles Angels kicked off the offseason with a surprising trade. The Angels sent outfielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitcher Grayson Rodriguez in a straight swap.
War’s name had been involved in plenty of rumors at the most recent MLB trade deadline, but the Angels decided to keep him around.
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So, it isn’t too surprising to see him finally being traded, although Ward admits he had “no idea” he would be traded at this point, via Jake Rill of MLB.com.
“I had no idea,” Ward said in a Zoom call on Monday. “You could say it was definitely a blindside. I had no idea that the Orioles were interested in me, but definitely thankful, grateful for the opportunity and excited to get going with them.”
While it caught him off guard, Ward seems excited for the change of scenery.
“I just think that the whole group is a solid group, a lot of young players. Just excited to step in and help produce in that lineup,” Ward said. “This team’s definitely capable of making a deep playoff run, and I’m excited to join that.”
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Mike Elias, the Orioles’ President of Baseball Operations, also admitted they had been “chasing” Ward for years and finally were able to acquire him.
“There’s a lot to like with Taylor Ward. He’s actually somebody that we’ve been chasing for at least a couple years, just because of the profile, the big right-handed power,” Elias said. “I think it brings a lot of stability to our outfield picture. I think it’s going to hopefully make the rest of the lineup better.”
Ward is in the final year of his contract but he did have a career year, posting career highs in doubles (31), home runs (36), RBIs (103) and walks (75).
Still, he was caught off guard, as were a lot of people, with the Orioles-Angels swap.