The Blue Jays released Randy Ruiz, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Ruiz then signed a contract with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Jays called up Jeremy Reed to take Ruiz's place.
Ruiz, 32, raked in his 130 big league plate appearances for the Blue Jays last year but had only 40 PAs this year. The journeyman first baseman/left fielder has logged 11 minor league seasons, and will presumably get a chance to earn more money in Japan.
this is rather shocking considering how bad Overbay is this year.
I’m sure they’d rather replace Overbay with Wallace.
The guy proved he could hit last September, albeit with a small sample size of at-bats. Not sure what to make of this move. One thing is for sure, though; he was wasting away on the Jays bench for whatever reason.
Not surprised to see this move – he was a terrible first basemen who had a decent bat. Whether he got let go now or after the season wouldn’t have changed anything. Both Ruiz and Overbay are simply keeping Wallace’s seat warm.
Well at least we know who will get sent back to Vegas when Snider comes off the DL
i feel bad for this guy. he hits really well last year and this spring and i thought for sure would be a lock at the DH spot but they never gave him consistent at bats.
You think that a team like the Mariners could have used his bat.
Nooooooooooooooooo
He sounded like a good guy. At least he got to play in the bigs, and that debut in Yankee Stadium would have been worth it for the New Yorker. Wished Cito had played him more often. Little thin right now for 1st basemen on the bench…interesting
he’s can be just as good as David Ortiz at times…
He was also very impressive in the Caribbean in Winter Ball this offseason. Age is a factor, but surprised that they didn’t at least give him a fair shot to show off his bat.
I blame Overbay and Cito’s belief in the sense of Veteran entitlement. Ruiz could outperform Overbay if given half a chance. This is similar to them benching Overbay for the even less productive Millar last year.
Would rather have him play than Overbay. Who knows, he could have hit for the next four months, then we could have traded him for a high risk/high reward prospect from a team that’s looking for some new and cheap offensive weapons for 2012 (Royals, Mariners, Athletics)….that’s more than we’re ever going to get for/from Overbay at this point.
I have a feeling he asked to be released because he got tired of not getting a shot at more regular playing time…so this is really Gaston’s fault. He tried to work him in a little over the last couple of weeks but it was too little too late in this case
I’m sorry to say, but this guy had some real talent with the bat. He needed consistent at bats. Anywhere this has been given to him, he’s produced, even at the major league level. It’s a shame that Cito wasted him on the bench and continued to utilize Overbay, day after day. Jays loss, Cito to blame.
I’ve always been surprised he never got a shot before 2008. He would have made a good permanent DH for any team. No one gave him a chance until the Twins and Jays started to in 2008 and on.
So this means we have to watch Overpay all year, ugh… Not sure what it is with the Jays loyalty to aging underachieving veterans.
Cito manages players the way he wishes he was managed… except for guys like Ruiz, who he manages the way he actually was managed.
He will certainly earn more in Sendai, the Eagles are hurting for offense; importing the likes of Andy Phillips and Todd Linden for help.
I’m going to guess Randy took the multi-year deal Japan offered that he would never get in MLB. At his age he’s got to take the guaranteed money. Look at other borderline MLB DH type contracts and even proven MLB hitters are only getting 1 year deals.
Yes, Cito should have played him more (especially with Lyle sucking), but really this is no loss to the Jays. Sooner or later Wallace will be playing instead of Lyle.
exactly right. My guess is Ruiz agent landed an offer for way more than Ruiz was ever going to make here (being 32 and 3 years from Arbitration was damning) and he ask for his release so he could go make some reasonably big money while he still had time.
Good on him, IMO. And no, the Jays didn’t lose anything of consequence. When Snider returns, EE or JB will be able to provide anything and everything Ruiz ever would have.