SARASOTA – The timing of the moment could be described as terrible or terrific.

The Orioles claimed outfielder Will Robertson and catcher Drew Romo on waivers Dec. 5. They had only one opening on the 40-man roster, which necessitated a corresponding move, as well as a delicate touch.

Outfielder Ryan Noda was designated for assignment, but he didn’t find out from his agent, Gary Russo, until the next morning, which is also how the team planned it.

No one wanted him to hear about it on his wedding day.

“It was less than 24 hours, that’s for sure,” Noda said yesterday, smiling at the memory.

“It was all right. My agent did a great job of giving me a day, letting me know, because I didn’t have my phone on me for two days. I was like, I’m gonna fully be in the moment and enjoy.

“She (Grace) planned a lot of it. We’ve been together for 10 years, so it was a long time coming and it was so much fun. Our whole families were together. My family loves hers and her family loves mine, so it was perfect. And all of our friends know each other really well cause we’ve been together for 10 years, so it was just a massive party.”

The couple was married at the Monastery Event Center in Mount Adams in Cincinnati, which offers scenic views of the city skyline, Ohio River and Northern Kentucky. Noda, 29, was born in Illinois but attended the University of Cincinnati.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “It was the best weekend of my life. So it was awesome.”

The offseason glass wasn’t half full, it overflowed.

The Orioles selected Noda on waivers from the White Sox on Aug. 2 and he went 2-for-13 with an RBI in seven games. He made three starts in right field for the Orioles but mostly played first base with Oakland and Chicago.

The struggles in 2025 were real. Noda was 3-for-34 with the White Sox while trying to perform with a left leg injury, which kept him out for most of July.

“Probably middle of the year I had a strained quad pretty bad, so I just tried playing through it, and that’s when I had my time off in Chicago,” he said. “Got here and I was better but wasn’t fully in mid-season form, so just kind of getting back to the grind and getting my body right and getting healthy.

“I lost some weight, which was good. Whatever happened in the offseason when it comes to being on the roster, off the roster, it doesn’t really matter. Just got to come ready to play and knock the door down.”

Noda had 22 doubles, 16 home runs and a .770 OPS in 128 games as a rookie with the Athletics in 2023, but injuring his load leg wasn’t going to bring back those numbers. And he was fighting for a job. That’s a bad combination.

“It wasn’t fun last year trying to play on that for a while,” he said. “But bouncing around, it was kind of hard to be like, ‘Hey, uh …’ You just buckle down and grind through it.”

The diet got him in better shape. He was able to heal and also break some bad habits.

“Just eating healthy and timely eating, not eating past a certain time,” he said “Nine o’clock was like my cutoff. And just sleeping, getting my good sleep. I like to cook, so my wife benefits from it, as well. We just kind of stay at home, make some good meals. It’s fantastic.

“The hardest part honestly was just like the meaningless snacks throughout the day. Eliminating little snacking and making sure I stick to my meals. I do love myself some sweets, so we have a Ninja Creami, which comes in handy. We just make protein ice cream instead of regular ice cream. So once a week we treat ourselves to it.”

For those of us who never heard of it, Noda was happy to explain how it works.

“It’s a sweet Ninja machine,” he said. “You have to make it 24 hours in advance, put in the freezer for 24 hours, take it out, a little bit of milk, spins it. You can make light ice cream, ice cream, gelato, sherbert, shakes. It’s fantastic. It’s literally our favorite thing. We’re a Ninja house. We have a lot of Ninja things.

“Honestly, it took a little bit to break (the habit). It probably took almost a month for me not to sit down and be like, ‘Wow, I could use a snack.’ It was like, ‘No, I’m just gonna sit down.’ So I’m getting better. I try to follow her lead. Good influence.”

Though he’s off the 40-man, Noda is glad that he’s still in the organization.

“I like this club, it’s a good club,” he said. “They talk about the right things. It took a couple years to play on a club that talks about winning and can do it. There’s a ton of talent here. I’ve played against just about everyone in here, plus the guys I played with last year.

“Their main goal is my main goal – not to just make the playoffs, but to win the World Series.”