Veteran Guardians beat writer shines light on team’s outfield trade pursuits 

In the middle of November, the Baltimore Orioles made one of the first big splashes of the Hot Stove season when they acquired Los Angeles outfielder Taylor Ward to fortify their outfield. While Ward has long been coveted by a variety of teams in MLB, the Angels never seemed ready to dangle him in trade talks. 

One of those teams that coveted Ward was the Guardians, who stood out as an obvious fit for Ward given the lack of production from their outfield. 

So, at face value, Ward ending up with a team led by a former Guardians coach is a bit infuriating, especially since the Guardians haven’t made a big move yet this offseason. 

But Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes shined some new light on the Guardians’ pursuit of Ward last week in a mailbag where he wrote “the Guardians had interest in Ward, but they weren’t willing to give up potentially a frontline starting pitcher.” 

The Orioles ended up giving up starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez (a former first-round pick) to the Angels in exchange for Ward. 

It’s going to take a lot for the Guardians to give up their starting pitchers in trades 

Hoynes’ tidbit is interesting for a variety of reasons. The first thing is their renewed interest in Ward, which seems to give credence to Chris Antonetti’s statement that the team was going to pursue outside options to fortify their outfield. 

Ward is coming off a season where he hit 36 home runs with 113 RBI in 157 games. He’s killed left-handed pitching throughout his career, and would have been an obvious solution to their problems in right field. 

He wouldn’t have been a long-term solution, however, since he’s due to be a free agent after the season. That looming deadline is likely the biggest reason why the Guardians elected to sit out the Ward sweepstakes when Los Angeles’ asking price was for a pitcher of Rodriguez’s caliber. 

When thinking about things from the Guardians perspective, that means the Angels likely would have asked for a pitcher like Parker Messick or Joey Cantillo in return, which is a bit of a steep price an outfielder with one year of control who has never been an All-Star.

Ward would be an obvious upgrade, but he also would have stood in the way of young outfielders like Chase DeLauter and George Valera.

Rodriguez made his debut in 2023 and posted a 3.86 ERA in 2024, but missed all of the 2025 season due to an elbow injury. He’s not as much of a proven commodity as some of Guardians' pitchers, but he has that first-round pick pedigree and won’t be a free agent until after 2029. 

Even though Ward didn’t end up in Cleveland, Hoynes’ reporting shows how much it’s going to take for the Guardians to get rid of their young starting pitching, which is good.

The Guardians were able to make it into the postseason on the back of their strong starting pitching, and the best way to capitalize on that talent in trade talks (if they choose) is by selling high to acquire a proven player with years of team control. 

Ward is only one of those things, and holding off on giving up a high-upside arm for him was the right move.