The Los Angeles Dodgers need a left fielder for next season, and could look to the farm system to get their man.
Ryan Ward, a 27-year-old left fielder, tore up the Pacific Coast League with Triple-A Oklahoma City this past season, and The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya says he could finally feature for the team in 2026.
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“They could also just run back what they did with their outfield last winter, seeking a stopgap option or turning to even some internal choices, according to multiple people familiar with the team’s thinking,” Ardaya wrote. “Among the options: Ryan Ward, who the Dodgers surprisingly added to their 40-man roster last week after a torrid offensive season at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
“…With Ward now on the 40-man roster, at least one potential configuration could be a platoon with a left-handed hitting Ward and the right-handed hitting Alex Call, who the Dodgers acquired at the trade deadline and is entering his first year of arbitration. Call logged just 15 plate appearances during the Dodgers’ World Series run and just 85 plate appearances after the trade during the regular season.”
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The Dodgers added Ward to the 40-man roster after the end of the 2025 season, and he could very well be the answer they’re looking for. Ward received All-Star honors in the PCL last season, and also won the league’s MVP award. He had 36 home runs and 122 RBIs through 143 games in Triple-A last season, and also batted .290 over the course of the season.
LA has been linked with huge names such as Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger this offseason, but if they’re reluctant to throw a huge amount of money on a star in order to reinforce their bullpen — another area which desperately needs improvement — they could very well stick with Ward for the time being.
Photo Credit: NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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2 Responses
Ward definitely seems like a good, economical option to me given his recent track record in Triple A. Big money doesn’t always bring big results. A rising player has more to prove.
Yes with Ward and Kike’ in left, that would be an inexpensive replacement for Michael Confort-0-fer. Or, they could sign Kwan to play center, move Pages to RF and Teoscar to left and let Ward be a backup and late inning replacement for Teoscar in left so he could at least get an at-bat in a lot of games as well as rest replacement when needed.