Minor MLB Transactions: 7/27/16

Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all via Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:

• The Rangers released outfielder Justin Ruggiano, per a club announcement. It had seemed at one point over the winter that Ruggiano would hold down an important role at the major league level for Texas, but the team ended up adding Ian Desmond and the veteran Ruggiano has received a grand total of four major league plate appearances on the year. He has been playing at Triple-A, where he owns a .226/.321/.427 batting line with seven home runs over 190 plate appearances. The eight-year MLB veteran could yet have an impact this year with another organization; he has enjoyed some productive runs in the majors, including a late-season spurt last year with the Dodgers.
• Outfielder Ronnier Mustelier was outrighted by the Braves. He had received his first major league call-up for Atlanta at 31 years of age, but didn’t see any action. He owns a .300/.362/.399 slash over 357 plate appearances on the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. After leaving his native Cuba, Mustelier joined the Yankees organization before the 2011 season, then played mostly in Mexico and Venezuela last year after New York cut him loose.
• The Marlins have outrighted right-hander Asher Wojciechowski after recently designating him for assignment. The 27-year-old struggled in a brief stint with the Astros last year — his only taste of major league time to date — and hasn’t really put things together since a promising 2013 campaign. Wojciochowski hasn’t been very effective this year at the Triple-A level, where he has issued too many free passes to keep runs off of the board.
• Righty Justin De Fratus signed a minor league deal with the Nationals after being released by the Rangers. Now 28, De Fratus was a source of quality innings for the Phillies not long ago. Entering the 2015 season, he had thrown 114 major league innings of 3.08 ERA pitching with 8.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. Things went south from there, however, as De Fratus scuffled to a 5.51 ERA in his ensuing campaign and hasn’t seen the majors since. He had not shown well since moving from the Mariners’ to the Rangers’ top affiliate, walking more batters than he struck out over 9 1/3 innings.