Dodgers Lose Ryan Ward to Surprising Team

The 2025 Pacific Coast League MVP is headed to a surprise team.

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Ryan Ward (67) enters the dugout to play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 11, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ryan Ward didn't waste much time finding a new team. But he did have to look far.

Six days after he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Sept. 16, Ward has an agreement with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball, the top league in Japan.

Ward, 28, was the Most Valuable Player of the Pacific Coast League in 2025. He finished last season with 36 home runs, 122 RBIs and a .290/.380/.557 slash line in 143 games for the Oklahoma City Comets, the Dodgers' top farm team.

The Dodgers added Ward to their 40-man roster in November 2025, and he appeared in 20 MLB games as a rookie following his April 2026 debut. The power translated to the big leagues, as Ward hit three home runs and four doubles in 55 at-bats, good for a .455 slugging percentage. But Ward also struck out 17 times and hit .218 overall, while drawing only five walks.

That might have been enough to earn a longer look from many major league clubs. With the Dodgers, he was competing against a deep trove of minor league outfield talent for a potential call-up.

When the Dodgers selected the contract of Josue De Paula from Double-A in the wake of Shohei Ohtani's injured list placement on Sept. 8, it was clear Ward had slipped down the organizational depth chart.

Ward's 2026 numbers at Oklahoma City back that up: in 106 games with the Comets this season, he slashed .249/.349/.430. In a season in which home runs were up across all of minor league baseball, Ward's surface stats were headed in the wrong direction compared to 2025.

How his numbers will translate to Japan is anyone's guess. From Ward's perspective, it was understandable why he was willing to roll the dice after spending his entire seven-year professional career (2019-26) in the Dodgers organization.

Because he was cut in September, Ward was ineligible to play for any MLB team besides the Dodgers in the 2026 postseason. Teams must be under contract to an organization by Sept. 1 to wear their uniform in October. Had he been claimed by — and agreed to join — a different major league organization, Ward's 2026 season was guaranteed to end this week.

Chunichi is 59-77 in NPB's Central League. The Dragons have three games remaining on their regular season schedule.

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