Overview
- Both teams announced the straight player-for-player deal Tuesday night, sending outfielder Taylor Ward to Baltimore and right-hander Grayson Rodriguez to Los Angeles.
- Ward, 31, is coming off a career season with 36 home runs, 103 RBI and 157 games, adding the right-handed power bat the Orioles targeted.
- Rodriguez, 26, missed all of 2025 with right elbow inflammation and a right lat strain and underwent season-ending elbow debridement surgery in August.
- Los Angeles gains a starter under club control through 2029, while Ward enters his final arbitration year with a projected $13.7 million salary and is reported by multiple outlets to reach free agency after 2026.
- The deal addresses clear needs on both rosters, with Baltimore boosting its outfield offense and the Angels seeking to fortify a thin rotation with upside.