The Angels are already in tryout mode, and that makes a player like Ryan Ward impossible to ignore.
With playoff hopes gone, Los Angeles has spent the last few weeks handing real run to fringe pieces and near-ready prospects such as Vaughn Grissom, Moises Ballesteros, Christian Moore, and Wade Meckler. That’s the right approach for a team in this spot. But it also opens the door for outside additions if a useful name hits waivers.
Ward fits that bill.
The Dodgers designated him for assignment on Wednesday, putting a former fan favorite and last season’s Pacific Coast League MVP on the market. The 5-foot-10 left-handed hitter got his first taste of the majors this year, appearing in 20 games and collecting 60 plate appearances.
He hit .218 with a .455 slugging percentage and a .738 OPS, while also logging four doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and five walks. In Triple-A this season, he put together a monster line: .290 with 31 home runs and 122 RBIs.
For the Angels, the fit is obvious on paper. Ward can work in the outfield and give them another option at first base, where he’s already shown some versatility.
In those 20 big-league games, he started 15 times in left field, played first base three times, served as the DH once and pinch-hit once. That kind of usage lines up neatly with a roster that already has room to rotate players through multiple spots.
There is one catch, though: the Angels are not first in line.
Colorado has waiver priority ahead of Los Angeles, and that could matter here. As BTH noted on September 16, 2026, the Rockies would get the first shot at Ward, and they do have a group of left-handed hitting first base/outfield types already in the mix. If they pass, the Angels would hold the second-highest waiver priority in MLB.
That’s where the opportunity is for Los Angeles. If Ward gets to them, the decision should be easy.
He’s the kind of low-cost, low-drama pickup who can be tested immediately and, if it clicks, become part of next year’s outfield picture. For a club looking for any edge it can find, that’s exactly the sort of move worth making.
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