Last offseason the Los Angeles Dodgers took a modest approach in protecting players who were eligible for the Rule 5 Draft by only adding Jack Dreyer to their 40-man roster.
That left the likes of Jake Vogel, Austin Gauthier and Ryan Ward, among other Dodgers Minor Leaguers who could be taken in the annual Rule 5 process.
The Dodgers wound up losing Garrett McDaniels (Los Angeles Angels), Hyun-il Choi (Washington Nationals), Michael Hobbs (New York Mets), Orlando Ortiz Mayr (Miami Marlins) and Jefferson Valladares (Minnesota Twins).
McDaniels was later returned to the Dodgers organization after he was designated for assignment by the Angels and cleared waivers.
Now roughly one year later, the Dodgers added Ward onto their 40-man roster to prevent him from leaving the organization as a Minor League free agent, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
The Dodgers also added minor-league outfielder Ryan Ward to their 40-man roster to keep him from free agency, per a league source.
Ward enjoyed a productive season with Triple-A Oklahoma City that saw him hit .290/.380/.557 with 31 doubles, six triples, 36 home runs and 122 RBI over 143 games. He set career highs in games played, doubles, home runs, RBI and with 83 walks.
Despite Ward’s offensive production and the Dodgers’ need for improvement in left field, he seemingly was never fully considered for a promotion to the Major League roster. Opportunities instead went to the likes of Esteury Ruiz and Justin Dean.
The 2025 season was Ward’s third time playing at the Triple-A level. During his career with the Comets, the 27-year-old has batted .261/.343/.507 with 80 doubles, 19 triples, 90 home runs and 318 RBI across 402 games.
Ryan Ward named Pacific Coast League MVP
Although Ward didn’t earn a call-up to the Dodgers roster this season, he was named 2025 Pacific Coast League MVP. Voting for MVP and additional postseason awards was conducted among Minor League managers.
Ward became the second OKC player in the last three years to win PCL MVP, along with Michael Busch (2023), and the franchise’s third winner during the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998), joining Nelson Cruz (2008).
Ward led the Minors in home runs, RBI, extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315). Among PCL leaders, he ranked second with 113 runs scored, third in both slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging (.937), and fourth with 164 hits.
Ward also established Bricktown era career records for home runs (90) and RBI (318).
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