Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez offered too tantalizing of a package for Perry Minasian to turn down, despite the risk.
A day after the Angels acquired a pitcher who has been hurt for nearly a season and a half, Minasian said the current reports of Rodriguez’s health and the potential he offers were sufficient to be worth sending the Baltimore Orioles one of their best power hitters, Taylor Ward.
“Is there risk? Yes, there’s risk,” the Angels’ general manager said Wednesday. “It’s eyes wide open on the risk. That being said, it’s four years of control. It’s somebody that, when he pitches, can beat anybody on any given night. The weapons he has and the ability to throw strikes, it’s a combination that some of the best in the game have. We’ve got high expectations. He’s somebody we’re really excited to have.”
Rodriguez, 26, is a former first-round draft pick with a 100 mph fastball. He had a 3.25 ERA over a 31-start stretch from July 2023 to July 2024. He struck out 193 and walked 53 over 182⅔ innings in that span. His walk rate is slightly better than the major-league average.
However, he hasn’t thrown a pitch in a regular season game since July 31, 2024.
Rodriguez suffered a lat strain that cost him the last two months of the 2024 season, and he missed all of 2025 with a similar strain and then elbow problems. He had surgery to have bone spurs removed in August.
“We need him to be healthy,” Minasian said. “We like where he’s at. Obviously, we felt like the medical (report) was in a good enough place to where this was a chance, a gamble worth taking. We expect him to be healthy in spring. He’s throwing bullpens in January. We’ve talked to him. He’s very motivated, very excited. Somebody that can really give us a jolt in the rotation.”
Rodriguez said he is “absolutely” confident that he can pitch a full season this year. He said the bone spurs had been an issue for “three or four years,” and he believes that they led to the lat injuries.
“Just being able to get those out of there, my arm feels great right now throwing,” Rodriguez said. “There’s really no question for me to be ready for spring training.”
Rodriguez said he will soon start long toss and then throwing “with higher intent.”
For now, any report of his health has to be taken with caution. Teams typically would not give up an established starting pitcher with four years of club control for a hitter with one year of control under normal circumstances.
Mike Elias, the Orioles president of baseball operations, told the Baltimore media recently that Rodriguez was a “wild card.”
“There’s nothing going on right now that would hold him back,” Elias said. “He’s not injured right now and he’s preparing for spring training, but the poor guy’s missed a year and two months basically, and we’ve got to be mindful of that, and I think he’s a really nice wild card talent for us, and I’m really optimistic and bullish about it. But the fact that he’s missed so much time recently, we just have to be prudent about that.
“We don’t want to plan around him too heavily, but I really like where he’s at.”
If Rodriguez is healthy, he would join a rotation that includes right-hander José Soriano and left-handers Yusei Kikuchi and Reid Detmers. Soriano is 27 and Detmers and Rodriguez are 26.
The Angels control Detmers and Soriano for the next three years, and Rodriguez for the next four.
The Angels still need another starter, and to that end the deal helps by freeing up some money. Ward was set to make around $14 million in arbitration, and Rodriguez will make just over the major-league minimum of $780,000.
“The more flexibility, the better,” Minasian said. “That was discussed too. It’s not only acquiring somebody we feel like can impact the rotation, but freeing up some money to maybe get into areas where we wouldn’t have been able to before.”
The Angels will need to replace Ward’s production at the plate. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 103 runs with a .792 OPS.
The Angels still have Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler to play the corner outfield spots. Trout and Soler likely can’t handle full-time outfield duty, so the Angels would probably look to have them split time in the outfield and at designated hitter. Adell could also play center, but perhaps now the Angels are more likely to get a true center fielder and keep Adell in one of the corners.
“It’s a long offseason,” Minasian said. “We’ll continue to look.”