GM details why Taylor Ward is ‘really good fit’ for Mariners

Seattle Mariners general manager Justin Hollander called this trade deadline “unusual,” but it didn’t stop the club from getting a bat it had been targeting for longer than just this year.

Mariners OF Luke Raley likely out for the season

The M’s addressed their biggest need heading into the trade deadline on Monday morning when they acquired right-handed-hitting outfielder Taylor Ward from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for reliever Alex Hoppe and minor league pitchers Brock Moore and Harrison Kreiling.

Shortly after the 3 p.m. deadline for trades passed, Hollander joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob to discuss the team’s moves and its plans moving forward.

When it came to Ward, Hollander said the 32-year-old corner outfielder is a player they had been trying to acquire since his time with the division rival Los Angeles Angels.

In fact, Hollander and Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto were a part of the Angels front office that drafted Ward 26th overall in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft.

“Back then, he was a glove-first catcher with power. We nailed it,” Hollander said with a laugh. “Now, he’s an on-base-machine corner outfielder as he’s in his 30s. He’s a really good player, he’s a guy that we’ve tried to acquire over the last couple of years. (It’s) hard to do deals in division, and we were never able to line up with the Angels when he was there. Really excited to get him now.”

Ward was known a bit more as a power hitter during his time with the Angels. From 2022-25, he hit at least 20 homers in three of four seasons, including a career-high 36 last year. But this year Ward’s on-base skills are what have shined. He leads the American League with 87 walks and is fifth with a .383 on-base percentage. Ward also has the lowest chase rate of any qualified MLB hitter at 14.2%.

“It’s a really good fit for us,” Hollander said. “We need more on-base skills guys who can get on base and make the lineup churn. He’s also a guy that hits right-handed, which as you guys know we’ve been pretty unbalanced all year long, and he will help us balance out our lineup.”

Despite a big drop in power – Ward has just seven homers in 111 games this year – he’s remained an above average hitter with a 117 wRC+, an identical number to his 36-homer campaign in 2025. Ward has posted a wRC+ of 108 or better (100 is league average) in each season since 2021.

And Ward’s acquisition seems even more important for the Mariners after Hollander revealed outfielder Luke Raley is likely to miss the rest of this season with a left forearm strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list Saturday.

“He’s been one of the most consistent offensive performers in baseball every year of the last five or so,” Hollander said of Ward. “… Another really good offensive player is what we need. Luke Raley is probably going to miss the rest of the season at this point with his forearm injury. So, adding him to the mix will be really helpful for us.”

Brock and Salk: Mariners get ‘big upgrade’ in Taylor Ward trade

As far as what the plan is for Ward’s playing time moving forward, the club is still working out exactly where he will play and how often. But the expectation is he will be in the lineup most days.

“We’ll sit down with (manager) Dan (Wilson) and the staff tomorrow and talk about like where he hits in the lineup and what they’re thinking on that, but he’s an everyday player, whether that’s right of left field or DH,” Hollander said. “He’ll be in there almost every day, and the thing he does best he does as good as anyone in baseball, which is he gets on base.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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