Hello, friends.

There are now 123 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. After Mike Elias pulled off the surprise Grayson Rodriguez trade last week, it seems like anything could happen at any time, which means constant vigilance for me.

It’s days later now and I’ve still got Rodriguez being traded for Taylor Ward running through my mind. The thing that I just can’t wrap my head around, even with some time to sit and think about it, is that for all of the time we (that is, Orioles fans) were invested in Rodriguez, he’s gone for one year of an older outfielder who strikes out a lot, is likely to be a mediocre defender at best, and will hit around 30 homers if the Orioles are lucky enough for him to repeat what he did this past season.

A commonly-spoken thought about this deal is t

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