The Orioles shipped off pending free agent Taylor Ward in a trade on August 3, ending his short stint in Baltimore. Seattle, in need of runs scored and trying to stay in the American League playoff race, acquired the services of Ward, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Mariners’ Return

• OF Taylor Ward (.246/.383/.346, seven HR & 27 XBH over 111 GP)

This has been a different kind of year for Taylor Ward, who was a power-hitting outfielder for much of his tenure in the bigs with the Angels. However, things have been different for the right-handed hitting outfielder, who was acquired by the Orioles last November for Grayson Rodriguez.

One thing that didn’t change was that Ward, just like in Los Angeles, was very adept at getting on base with Baltimore. A staple atop the Baltimore lineup, Ward walked a ton with the O’s this season. He received 87 free passes in his first 111 games this season. His 17.2% BB% was fifth-most in the Majors this season.

The only four players with a higher BB% were Munetaka Murakami, Juan Soto, Nick Kurtz, and old teammate Mike Trout.

Where Ward has seen his value dip is in the power category. Ward regularly flirted with 30-home run campaigns, and last year, he cracked 36 for the Angels. But this season, more doubles than home runs — significantly so. The veteran only had seven with the O’s before the trade.

You can’t blame it on the change in scenery, either. On every single pitch type, including fastballs, his Barrel% was down across the board.

Ward, a corner outfielder, will be a free agent after the 2026 season.

Analysis

The Mariners have a glut of left-handed hitters across their lineup, between Josh Naylor, Colt Emerson, Cole Young, Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley (IL), and a soon-to-be-returning infielder Brendan Donovan. At the very least, Ward should help even out the lineup in that regard.

But more importantly, the Mariners get a proven on-base threat to help Seattle push runs home runs across. And for Seattle, scoring runs has proven to be a major problem in recent weeks. The club ended the month of July with 87 runs scored, tied with the Athletics for the second-fewest among MLB teams in the month.

Only the Angels, Ward’s old team, had fewer runs scored. So, the Mariners, in this regard, are simply playing the numbers in the hope that more runners on base mean more runs scored.

As for the Orioles. Baltimore is not out of it just yet. As of August 3, the Orioles were just 2.5 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot. But like the Mariners, the Orioles must dance this dance of trying to maintain a competitive ballclub — for both the present & future.

The Orioles likely were not going to re-sign Ward anyway.

Check out more of our MLB coverage, including looks at the Luis Arraez & Jose Soriano trades.