Brandon Gomes' explanation for keeping Ryan Ward in Triple-A will enrage Dodgers fans

Dodgers minor leaguer Ryan Ward's addition to LA's 40-man roster was thrilling for fans who have been keeping an eye on the Pacific Coast League's 2025 MVP, but the questions still remain: why didn't they do it sooner, and how are the Dodgers actually going to use him?

Even fans not particularly plugged into the goings-on in the minors might've heard about Ward, the eighth-round pickup for the Dodgers in 2021 and unranked prospect who hit 36 homers with 122 RBI in 2025, around the time that fans' frustrations with Michael Conforto were reaching peak levels.

Ward was right there, mashing, while Conforto was having a career-worst season in LA. Ward is an outfielder. The swap would've been easy.

GM Brandon Gomes shed some light on the Dodgers' thinking on Ward, but it won't make fans happy. Apparently, Ward was "multiple times in the conversation" on call-ups, but "He was probably more a victim of circumstances of 'Hey, do we have a runway for him to play?' versus call him up and he doesn’t get to play. [...] Were there clear times when he was going to jump somebody and get a consistent amount of runway to play? We didn't really see that path over the last couple years."

Buddy, your path was right in front of you throughout the entirety of 2025. Why didn't the Dodgers dump Conforto?

Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes' excuses for not calling up Ryan Ward ring hollow

The answer, most likely, is money. Conforto was owed $17 million in 2025, and the Dodgers didn't want to sink their investment. That might be okay for any other team, but this is the Dodgers. What is $17 million to them?

While Conforto was benched more regularly later in the season and wasn't on any of LA's postseason rosters, he still had enough at-bats to make him one of the worst qualified hitters in the game last year. He finished the year just under the Mendoza Line at .199 and was forced to take a minor league deal with the Cubs this year.

And the Dodgers still don't have an avenue for Ward after signing Kyle Tucker and packing the bench with the usual suspects plus, as it turns out, Santiago Espinal.

Ward said, "it’s frustrating for sure," and who can blame him? The Dodgers have scouting reports that fans don't, sure, but all we're asking is that they give the guy a chance. But for a third consecutive year, they have no way to do that.