The Baltimore Orioles viewed outfielder Taylor Ward as something of a scarce commodity.

So much so that they were willing to trade a young, cost-controlled pitcher for him.

“I wasn’t confident where else somebody like him would come from, on the free-agent and trade market right now, that had the sort of bat that we think he has and what he did last year,” Orioles team president Mike Elias said Friday night. “We leaned into the trade. It’s uncomfortable to make trades usually. It’s hard to line up, and you’re going to give something up that is always going to be difficult and interesting.”

The deal earlier this week was certainly intriguing. Baltimore traded 26-year-old right-hander Grayson Rodriguez — once viewed as one of the organization’s most promising starters — for Ward. Rodrigue

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