​As the Orioles head into the second half of the season and toward the August 3rd trade deadline, they have decisions to make on two prime trade candidates. Given the O’s perpetual need for starting pitching, LHP Trevor Rogers seems like an ideal extension candidate and should not be traded. Outfielder Taylor Ward represents a much tougher decision.The Orioles shipped out always-injured starter Grayson Rodriguez for the 32-year-old Ward in the offseason, knowing that the longtime former Angel was heading into the last year of his contract. The move was the first of two moves the Orioles’ front office made to take a serious swing at upgrading Baltimore’s right-handed power. With Ward and 1B Pete Alonso, the O’s thought they were adding 60-70 HRs and 200+ RBIs to a talented (but often inconsistent) lineup.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd while Alonso has certainly lived up to his billing, Ward’s performance has been a bit more head-scratching. On one hand, he’s second on the team (behind Alonso) with a 2.0 bWAR, tied with the Polar Bear with 91 hits and is on pace to shatter the Orioles’ single-season walk record. Ward has certainly been a good player for the Orioles and well worth the price of a pitcher who may never make 25+ starts in a season.And yet, Ward also hasn’t been as advertised in terms of power output and run production. Last year  Ward’s .475 slugging percentage ranked 45th in all of baseball. Among outfielders with at least 400 PA, he was 16th in slugging, narrowly beating out All-Stars like Julio Rodriguez and James Wood. So far this year, he’s down to 163rd among all major leaguers. Among outfielders with at least 250 PAs, Ward’s .359 slugging percentage ranks 61st and is more in line with struggling stars like Jarren Duran and Jackson Merrill.The 32-year-old’s massive dip in power not only represents a 100+-point drop from last year’s slugging output, but it also represents a 70-point drop from his career slugging percentage of .429. Ward only just hit his first home run at Camden Yards this past weekend against the Royals, and is on pace for 10 home runs after hitting 36 last season. And while moving from the three hole with the Angels to the leadoff spot for the O’s also hurts his RBI opportunities, the lack of power is also a cause for his current 42-RBI pace.If the Orioles wanted to do an extension with Ward, it’d likely cost them around $15-20M—similar to what they’re currently paying Tyler O’Neill. Given that his current salary is just over $12M, the cost of an extension is likely negligible if you account for Ryan Mountcastle’s $6.8M salary coming off the books in 2027. However, Ward is also likely the second-best outfielder (behind Randy Arozarena) in the upcoming free agent class. That may mean his salary gets inflated if a bidding war breaks out.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWard also could be very desirable to a number of sure-fire playoff teams this season. The P