Seattle Mariners overhaul roster as Taylor Ward, Seranthony Domínguez join team
Seattle Mariners outfielder Taylor Ward works in the field ahead of his first game with the team on August 4, 2026. Ward was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. (Ethan McReynolds / FOX 13 Seattle)
SEATTLE - In addition to having Taylor Ward and Seranthony Domínguez join the team after the trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners made several tweaks to their roster prior to their series with the Detroit Tigers.
The Mariners said goodbye to catcher Mitch Garver and outfielder Rob Refsnyder as both players were released from the roster outright to accommodate the additions of Ward and Domínguez.
Brendan Donovan was activated from the 10-day injured list with outfielder Stuart Fairchild designated for assignment.
Additionally, Jhonny Pereda was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take over Garver's backup catcher role.
While Ward and Domínguez were the only outside additions at the deadline, the flurry of moves marked a pretty significant overhaul of the roster as the team looks to push for a second straight AL West crown.
Ward is in the lineup and will bat eighth as a designated hitter in his first game with Seattle.
"When you look at a lineup and you got Brendan Donovan and Taylor Ward hitting seven and eight, we should be a hell of a lot better than we are," president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. "And hopefully this is step one in getting to a place where we perform commensurate to our our talent, because our talent is as good as anybody in this league."
Ward, 32, leads the American League in walks with 87 and has a career-high .383 on-base percentage this season with Baltimore. Randy Arozarena (.373) is the only Mariners hitter with an OBP over .330 this season. Ward had career-highs in home runs (36), doubles (31), RBI (103) and slugging percentage (.475) last year with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ward has played in 30 games at T-Mobile Park during his time with the Angels and Orioles and has struggled to hit in Seattle. He's a career .195 hitter with six walks and 35 strikeouts in 127 plate appearances, with a lone double as his only extra-base hit. However, Ward will not have to face Mariners' pitching now that he's joining the team.
And he's quite happy about that fact.
"One big thing is I’m just happy not to have to face the staff anymore. Definitely top three in baseball for me," Ward said. "It's always a tough game playing against them and they got great pitchers here. So super happy to play behind them and join the offense, and just be on that side of the ball."
Dipoto reiterated that the team has underperformed and the biggest key for the team will remain having improvement from players who were already here. Despite the struggles, finding places to try and bolster the roster wasn't easy.
"I know this is going to sound absurd to say, this is a tough roster to improve," Dipoto said. "You know, we've not played well. We've underperformed our talent level. But finding upgrades from a player perspective in any of these positions, leads you back to the best player is probably the one we have, with the exception being that we wanted to really add to that bullpen, and we knew we needed to add, especially to our (versus) left-(handed) lineup. That a right-handed hitter would be preferable.
"We feel like with Taylor Ward we got at least – if not the best right-hand bat that moved at this deadline, then certainly among the short list of the best right-hand bats."
Domínguez, 31, helps add depth to a Mariners' bullpen that has been worked hard, at times, being down an arm to accommodate Seattle's six-man rotation.
Domínguez has appeared in 42 games this season with Chicago, holding opponents to a .206 batting average against with a 4.10 ERA in 37 ⅓ innings pitched, along with 23 walks and 45 strikeouts.
Domínguez was a key part of the bullpen for the Toronto Blue Jays in last year's ALCS against the Mariners. He made 12 postseason appearances for the Blue Jays, pitching 11 ⅓ innings with four runs allowed for a 3.18 ERA. The Mariners were responsible for three of the four runs he allowed in the playoffs, including Eugenio Suárez's grand slam in Game 5.
"(He) has had vast experience in leverage moments," Dipoto said. "Obviously, some imperfections, but he's a big-time bat-misser who has pitched an important role in a lot of bullpens. … I think the lack of drama associated with simply having a five-man rotation is all a positive step, and hopefully it gets us moving in the right direction."
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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