The Seattle Mariners have acquired veteran outfielder Taylor Ward in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles, ESPN reports, just hours before Major League Baseball's Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Ward, 32, has turned in another solid season in 2026:
For the season, he has an OPS+ of 111, which is right in line with his career mark of 112. While his power has dropped off in 2026, Ward isn't far removed from a 2025 campaign that saw him hit 36 home runs as a member of the Angels. On the other hand, Ward this season has upped his walk rate, and he's now in the 98th percentile of MLB hitters in walks as a percentage of total plate appearances. Ward has a career WAR of 12.5 across parts of nine MLB seasons. The entirety of that WAR total has come since Ward's breakout season of 2022.
Ward is on a one-year contract and is owed the balance of a $12.18 million salary for this season. He'll re-enter the free-agent market this coming offseason.
For the Orioles, this signifies at least a soft sell-off at the deadline. Baltimore, coming off a disappointing 87-loss campaign in 2025, angled to get back to the playoffs in 2026. Thus far, though, serious contention has eluded them and first-year manager Craig Albernaz.
