ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels have made their first trade of the offseason and have acquired right-handed pitcher Grayson Rodriguez in exchange for left fielder Taylor Ward on Tuesday night.
Rodriguez, 26, was taken with the 11th pick by the Orioles in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Over the last three seasons, he has appeared in 43 games and has a career 20-8 record with a 4.11 ERA and 259 strikeouts. Last season, he missed the entire year due to arm injuries and had debridement surgery on his right elbow.
“He’s somebody that can definitely have a positive effect, short-term and long-term. This fits full buckets, which is rare to find a pitcher that fits both buckets with the stuff he has, with some of the success he’s had in the past,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Wednesday morning. “We felt like this was a risk worth taking, because he can affect our rotation in a positive way.”
Before having elbow surgery last season, Rodriguez was one of the top young pitchers in baseball during the 2024 season. Starting in 20 games, he had a 13-4 record, 3.86 ERA, and tallied 130 strikeouts for an Orioles team that finished second in the American League East with a 91-71 record.
“Grayson is somebody we’ve always admired from an arm talent standpoint, from stuff, his ability to throw strikes, his execution of pitches,” Minasian said. “He’s obviously had some big games in the AL East against really tough opponents.”
Ward, 31, has spent the last eight years with the Angels and is set to enter his final season of club control before hitting free agency. Last year, he hit a career high 36 home runs and 103 RBIs with a slashline of .228/.317/.475.
Despite a poor slashline and being behind Mike Trout (178) for the most strikeouts (175), he led the team in RBIs and doubles and was second behind Jo Adell (37) in home runs.
“It was a very difficult trade to make in the sense of how much I love Taylor Ward,” Minasian said. “The type of person he is, what he’s done for us, what he’s done for this organization, this is somebody that was drafted here and developed here, turned himself into a very, very good player.”
With the decision to move Ward, the Angels will now have a missing piece out in left, but will also have an additional $14 million available by parting ways with Ward.
In an outfield that features Trout, Adell, Jorge Soler, and Bryce Teodosio, while having young prospects Matthew Lugo and Nelson Rada waiting to join the big league roster, Minasian didn’t leave out the potential of adding another name to fill in the hole out in left.
“It’s not only acquiring somebody we feel like can impact the rotation, but freeing up some money that maybe gets into areas where we wouldn’t have been able to before,” Minasian said. “We’ll look at every avenue to improve this club. We want to improve, we want to take another step. Whether it’s on the offensive side, defensive side on the mound, we’ll look at all avenues.”