{"id":296114,"date":"2025-11-20T19:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/296114\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:56:10","slug":"mlb-mailbag-mlb-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/296114\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Mailbag: – MLB Trade Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week’s mailbag gets into the Grayson Rodriguez<\/a>–Taylor Ward<\/a> trade, the four accepted qualifying offers, the trade value of Jarren Duran<\/a> and Wilyer Abreu<\/a>, and much more.<\/p>\n

Nick asks:<\/p>\n

Hi, what is Mike Elias thinking selling low on Grayson? Ward is a good, not great, hitter, and Rodriguez’s ceiling is an ace. You guys have been calling for a Singer-Ward swap and I feel like 4 years of Rodriguez, even with his injuries, would have way more value than one year of Singer.<\/p>\n

Zach asks:<\/p>\n

For real, what’s with trading Grayson Rodriguez?!?<\/p>\n

In making this trade<\/a>, Orioles president of baseball operations and GM Mike Elias made a big bet against Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

When the Orioles drafted Rodriguez 11th overall out of high school in 2018, the club was a few months away from replacing Dan Duquette with Elias as the head of baseball operations.\u00a0 So Elias wasn’t involved with that pick, but he is intimately familiar with Rodriguez’s career and health history.<\/p>\n

Once one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Rodriguez’s injuries began with a 2022 Grade 2 lat strain that cost him three months and pushed back his expected Major League debut.\u00a0 He was healthy in 2023, had some success in the Majors, and totaled 165 innings – the only time in his career he’s topped 117 frames.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez missed 19 days with shoulder inflammation in May 2024, and then saw his season end that year on July 31st due to what was initially called a mild lat strain.\u00a0 No one could’ve guessed that quality start against the Blue Jays would close the book on Rodriguez’s Orioles career before his 25th birthday.<\/p>\n

The big righty supposedly entered 2025 without restrictions, and claimed he wasn’t hurt when his velocity was down in spring training.\u00a0 But in March he was diagnosed with elbow inflammation, compounded in April by another “mild lat strain.”\u00a0 It was initially thought Rodriguez would return in the second half, but he experienced elbow discomfort while rehabbing and was shut down.\u00a0 After multiple opinions were gathered, Rodriguez’s 2025 season ended with right elbow debridement surgery on August 11th.<\/p>\n

As Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun reported<\/a>, Elias described Rodriguez’s health this way at the end of September: “There\u2019s nothing medically to suggest that he won\u2019t be ready, and he\u2019s very determined and not happy about what happened last year.”\u00a0 Elias expressed some caution but ultimately said, “I am bullish on the situation.”\u00a0 The procedure involved removing bone chips<\/a> from Rodriguez’s elbow.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez spoke to reporters yesterday.\u00a0 Here’s an excerpt from Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Rodriguez said he is \u201cabsolutely\u201d confident that he can pitch a full season this year. He said the bone spurs had been an issue for \u201cthree or four years,\u201d and he believes that they led to the lat injuries. \u201cJust being able to get those out of there, my arm feels great right now throwing,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThere\u2019s really no question for me to be ready for spring training.\u201d”<\/p>\n

I’m searching for an explanation why the pitching-needy Orioles would trade a pre-arbitration mid-rotation type starter with 238 2\/3 pretty good big league innings to his name and four years of team control remaining for one year of what looks like, at best, a 2.5 WAR outfielder.<\/p>\n


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