The Orioles announced today that they have claimed third baseman Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Braves. Ruiz becomes the first 40-man roster addition of new O’s GM Mike Elias.
Ruiz, 24, signed for well over the slot value after the Astros selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 draft — their first under Elias’s direction. After a few seasons with the Houston organization, Ruiz was sent on to Atlanta along with Mike Foltynewicz in the deal that delivered Evan Gattis to the ‘Stros.
Over the years, Ruiz has at times shown hints of his long-valued talent, but hasn’t generally produced consistently at the plate and did not take advantage of a brief shot at the majors in 2017. He spent the bulk of the 2018 campaign at Triple-A, where he slashed .269/.322/.390 with nine home runs in 541 plate appearances.
Somewhere I missed something. Didn’t realize he was available… regardless good for him. Always felt like he just needs an ah ha moment and it will all click. Love his swing, needs to be on a team like the O’s who aren’t exactly expecting to compete, give him time to work the kinks out longer than the braves can afford to give him
Glad to see I hope he does well
Good opportunity for him.
Didn’t know he was released
Is that an open roster spot may we be seeing Keuchel sooner rather than later ?
ATL up to something seeing as how Rio’s DFA off the 40 man hasn’t even been reported yet. Is it a pitcher or an OF is the question.
I’m not sure about Keuchel, but Anthopoulos must be up to something in the background.
Bust.
He was a decent prospect at a point, but I absolutely don’t think he’s worth a 40-man spot at this point. He’s replacement-level at AAA at this stage. None of his minor-league lines in the past 5 years are very indicative of future ML success.
I agree for a contending club like the braves. For the orioles it’s a crack at a reclamation project hitter. Our 3B depth is severely lacking particularly if you believe mount castle can’t stay there.
Was never going to crack a starting job in Atlanta so wishing him the best in Baltimore.
Exactly the type of buy low and hope for a rebound move the Orioles need to make. Do enough of them that a couple guys pan out and that will help the rebuild.
Let’s see what the young guy does with the opportunity.
I really hope he uses Duran Duran as his walk-up music
It is pretty likely to be played at his away games, especially if they’ve seen him “hit”.
Is he a “she”? I had no idea….
I was thinking of how much I like the sax solo and how cool it would be if the player had fun with the overlap between his name and the song’s title; I wasn’t making a transphobic joke or making fun of the player. If I was ambiguous at all about that, I apologize.
Click here to read how baseball was almost taken away from Rio. qconline.com/sports/bandits-ruiz-nearly-had-game-t…
Best of luck, Rio. I will always cheer for you.
Hate to see the Braves lose him but he certainly deserves a shot. This should get him that chance.
Rio’s such a cool guy. Love to see him get this shot.
Nice no risk claim for an organization that doesn’t look to have any non first base infield positions locked down for the next few years. He’ll have lots of opportunities to work through struggles.