Jose Julio Ruiz's recent change in agents, from Jorge Luis Toca to Legacy Sports, appears to have been far from amicable. Both Ruiz and Toca lobbed barbs yesterday through the Nuevo Herald's Luis Rangel (link in Spanish).
Among the claims: Toca says the Red Sox offered $2.5MM for Ruiz, but adds the team later withdrew their offer after seeing Ruiz "out of shape and overweight" last Monday. He also says Ruiz showed up for tryouts without a glove, leading some on the Boston side to conclude the Cuban prospect had "a bad character."
According to the agent, the Rangers offered $2MM to Ruiz and the Blue Jays offered $1.5MM, even though Ruiz's tryouts in front of scouts were disastrous, with the first baseman only managing 10 or 12 hits in over 100 ABs. Toca says he was negotiating with Tampa Bay last Thursday when Ruiz called him and announced the split because "he could not stand it anymore." He says he is planning legal action against the player for expenses, claiming Ruiz used his agency to get information about teams and money to give to other agents.
Ruiz replies that far from being out of shape, he was "better than ever" in recent workouts for Texas and Toronto. In regards to the Red Sox, he says he "could not do anything" during the workout because of a hangnail on his ring finger. He claims not to know where Toca's "10 or 12 hits" figure comes from, as he never staged any official tryouts. Ruiz insists his value fell on the market because of Toca's agency communicating poorly and "not doing their job," saying, "I believe if I had been with other people, I would have signed long before."
Sounds like either one or both guys are being crybabies.
I can see the agents point. He spent a lot of money trying to get this guy noticed and should be reimbursed for his expenses. Maybe the agent should rethink his contract next time to include expenses incurred while trying to get the player signed. An agent does not make the player sign for more, it is the players ability that the teams sign.
I didn’t mean that I didn’t see either side. I know what the agent is saying and I agree that he did a lot of work. However, the way they are going about it is just sad.
Great Post! This is why I love mlbtraderumors, stuff I can’t find anywhere else.
Ruiz couldn’t do anything because of a hangnail? Sorry, we’ve already got a right fielder.
he “could not do anything” during the workout because of a hangnail on his ring finger
^^^i think that says it all about this guys work ethic
I’m skeptical that a 25 year old first baseman with no power can get a 1 mill plus offer…
Either there is something else here or I call shananagans
Could not agree more about the work ethic. I wonder what the Rangers and Jays are thinking about this post and if, knowing more about Ruiz, will change their decision