The 2026 Major League Baseball season is all of four games old, and the Baltimore Orioles have now made as many trades as they have wins.
On the same day as acquiring pitcher Jayvien Sandridge from the Los Angeles Angels, the Orioles made another deal, this time for a position player. They acquired outfielder Johnathan RodrÃguez from the Cleveland Guardians, giving up Double-A pitcher Carter Rustad in exchange.
Rodriguez had spent his entire professional career with the Guardians until this point, since being drafted by the organization back in the third round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut with Cleveland and appeared in 13 games, almost exclusively in right field, and played in a further 31 games in 2025. As of right now, though, Rodriguez’s time at the big league level has been brief and unproductive.
Rodriguez’s Steady Trajectory
It took until the 2022 season, in which he split time between High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron, for Rodriguez to get to the Double-A level. However, this was also his breakout season as a power hitter, appearing in 107 games and hitting 26 home runs with 74 runs batted in, according to MLB.com. His output placed him among the more productive power hitters in Clevelandâs farm system, and he has been a 20+ home run hitter ever since.
Rodriguez moved to Triple-A Columbus in 2023 and spent the second half of the season at that level. In 135 games over the Double-A and Triple-A levels that year, he hit 29 home runs and drove in 88 runs while posting a .286 batting average and a .529 slugging percentage, continuing to demonstrate consistent power production against upper-level pitching. He followed this with .930 and .912 OPS marks with Columbus in 2024 and 2025 respectively, the seasons during which he finally made the big league level.
Unfortunately, that level so far has proven challenging. In 44 games, Rodriguez has received 102 at-bats, but hit only two home runs and a .176 batting average, on his way to a .586 MLB OPS. The supposed power hitter is having significant trouble getting the ball in the air against major league pitchers, and his role with the Orioles will likely primarily be another season at the Triple-A level – his fourth.
Orioles’s Surplus Outfield Depth
Defensively, Rodriguez has primarily played corner outfield positions throughout his career, with experience in both left and right field. His usage has nonetheless generally been tied to his offensive contributions, with his role centered on providing right-handed power. Neither of these are immediate needs of the Orioles, who already have Taylor Ward, Tyler OâNeill, Dylan Beavers, Leody Taveras and utilitymen Jeremiah Jackson and Blaze Alexander to play in the outfield.
Rustad, a 15th round pick back in 2024, has only played one year of professional baseball, and is old for a prospect, turning 25 in April. He has however already advanced to the Double-A level, and shown reasonable command of his arsenal, posting a 3.23 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, and 10.1% walk rate across 53 total minor league innings last season working as a reliever. Neither the command or the stuff are elite, yet Rustad will have time to develop both, in a Guardians system that had no space for Rodriguez any longer among their strong incumbent outfield.
Across his minor league career to date, Rodriguez has accumulated 114 home runs, including 56 at Triple-A with multiple seasons exceeding the 25-home run mark. His progression through the Guardiansâ system included steady advancement at each level other than the pinnacle, and his powerful swing combined with a strong throwing arm makes for a reclamation project worth exploring. Time is running out, however. As of the time of the trade, his major league sample size remains limited, but the performances cannot stay limited forever.
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