The Los Angeles Dodgers designated outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment on Wednesday, clearing a 40-man roster spot as they activated left-hander Kris Bubic from the 60-day injured list, via the MLB transaction log.
Right-hander Paul Gervase was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding 26-man move.
Ward, 28, spent eight seasons in the Dodgers organization after being selected in the eighth round of the 2019 draft out of Bryant University.
He finally reached the majors in April and appeared in 20 games across two stints, batting .218 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 55 at-bats.
His last big-league game came June 27; he was optioned two days later when Teoscar Hernández returned from a hamstring injury.
The decision is striking because of what Ward did a year earlier. In 2025 he was named Pacific Coast League MVP after slashing .290/.380/.557 with 36 home runs and 122 RBIs for Oklahoma City.
He led all of Minor League Baseball in home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315). Those numbers earned him a 40-man roster spot that November.
This season the power did not fully carry over. Ward’s Triple-A production slipped to a .248/.349/.429 line with 18 homers, and Los Angeles never carved out regular playing time for the left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and first baseman.
A crowded major-league outfield—bolstered by Kyle Tucker, Hernández, Tommy Edman and prospect Josué De Paula—left little room. The club also never found a trade partner before the deadline.
Ward now has seven days for the Dodgers to trade him or place him on waivers.
If he clears, he can be outrighted to Triple-A; if claimed, he will join another organization that may give a proven minor-league slugger a longer look.
For a player who spent years waiting for an opportunity that never quite materialized in Los Angeles, the DFA is both an ending and a possible new start.
