Angels add potential ace from Orioles for beloved homegrown star in a shocking trade

The Los Angeles Angels were reportedly going to do anything in their power to add preeminent pitching this offseason, and last night showed to what extent Perry Minasian would go to in order to bolster the rotation. The Angels had not pulled off a good, old-fashioned blockbuster trade in quite a while, but Minasian completed one for the books with the Baltimore Orioles that's left Angels fans feeling both bitter-sweet and incredibly pumped for the future.

Angels add potential ace from Orioles for beloved homegrown star in a shocking trade

The Angels sent Taylor Ward to Baltimore in a one-for-one trade for Grayson Rodriguez. First and foremost, it is sad to finally see Ward leave Anaheim. Ward-o's been in trade talks for years now, and many thought that the Angels' former first round pick would have one last ride in the Big A coming off his career season in 2025. The left fielder crushed 36 home runs, 31 doubles and drove in 103 runs last season. Ward is undoubtedly one of Mike Trout's best lineup-mates in his career, given his penchant for extra-base hits and long balls the last few years.

OK, enough heartfelt stuff. In theory, Minasian absolutely fleeced Baltimore in this trade. Ward is a soon-to-be 32-year-old on an expiring, ~$13.7 million deal. For all of Ward's great traits as a ballplayer, he clearly has warts as well -- namely, his strikeout rate and lack of premier defense (which should be at risk of being truly exposed in Camden Yards). Rodriguez might have the worst medicals of all time for all we know, as he missed the entirety of the 2025 season and has not pitched since July 31st, 2024. However, he just turned 26-years-old and has four more years of team control left...and from what he's shown, he has front of the rotation stuff and numbers.

Let's start with the results. In 238.2 innings pitched from 2023-2024 in Baltimore, Rodriguez has a 3.80 FIP, 3.68 xFIP, 9.77 K/9 (!!) and 2.94 BB/9 (!!!!!!!!). Should he recover from his elbow surgery, a recovery in which the Angels should allow him all the time in the world to come back from, he slots in quite nicely next to Yusei Kikuchi (who has two more years on his deal), José Soriano and Reid Detmers (who both have three more years on their deals). Not to mention that the Angels are saving around $13 million to possibly spend on another starting pitcher to build out a truly exciting rotation for 2026 and beyond.