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Mariners trade for Orioles OF has been a major disappointment amid brutal .349 OPS
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- Mariners trade for Orioles OF has been a major disappointment amid brutal .349 OPS
Mariners trade for Orioles OF has been a major disappointment amid brutal .349 OPS originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Seattle Mariners tried to upgrade their lineup at the 2026 MLB trade deadline, acquiring a right-handed hitting outfielder for three prospects that weren't highly ranked in their organization in a deal with the Baltimore Orioles .
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At the time, it seemed like a fantastic trade, but now it's looking like a colossal mistake. Unfortunately for the Mariners, their new outfielder, Taylor Ward, has been terrible.
CBS Sports' Dayn Perry named the Ward trade for Seattle as one of the worst moves of the MLB trade deadline, and for good reason. Ward's .349 OPS is less than half of what he had with the Orioles.
Mariners trade with Orioles for Taylor Ward is one of worst of MLB deadline
"As with all these players, the sample size here is small, but Ward has been a disaster in Seattle so far," Perry writes.
Ward has been slotting into the designated hitter role for the Mariners since being acquired from the Orioles, and combined with his poor offensive numbers, he's been a massive detriment to the Mariners.
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His bWAR in 410 at-bats across 111 games for the Orioles was a strong 2.7 mark. In just 21 games and 72 at-bats for the Mariners, Ward has a -0.8 bWAR, an absolutely brutal number.
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In Baltimore, Ward had a .266 batting average, .383 on-base percentage, .346 slugging percentage, and a .730 OPS with a 111 OPS+. Nothing overly impressive, but still solid offensive numbers nonetheless.
In Seattle, Ward has dropped to a .111 batting average, .210 on-base percentage, .139 slugging percentage, .349 OPS, and a hopelessly low 4 OPS+.
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This has been a disaster of a trade, even with the lack of top-tier prospects given up in the deal. The Mariners would be much better off with just about anyone else playing instead of Ward.
The only way this trade could be described is a complete and unmitigated disaster. Seattle's 2026 season has been the same, and this trade has only made things look even worse for the Mariners in a season to forget.
