The Giants have agreed to a two-year, $6.25MM deal with first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The contract contains a club option for a third season, which would be Ruf’s first potential free-agent year.
Ruf, represented by Vanguard Sports, was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $2.6MM via arbitration. He’d have been due another raise via arbitration in 2023 before reaching free agency in the 2023-24 offseason. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Ruf will earn $3MM this season and next, adding that the 2024 option is valued at $3.5MM and comes with a $250K buyout.
Originally signed by the Giants on the heels of a strong run in the Korea Baseball Organization, Ruf has emerged as a key weapon against left-handed pitching. The former Phillies slugger has decimated southpaws, hitting at a .275/.390/.579 clip with 13 home runs, 11 doubles and a triple in 205 plate appearances. The resulting 157 wRC+, which indicates that Ruf has been 57% better than a league-average hitter against southpaws, ranks 12th among 168 qualified hitters.
That’s not to say Ruf has had a difficult time with right-handers or needs to be deployed strictly as a platoon player, to be clear. He’s no slouch against same-handed opponents either, as evidenced by a robust .270/.372/.461 slash in 207 plate appearances against them. It’s not the same level of dominance he’s had over southpaws, but Ruf’s production has been strong enough that manager Gabe Kapler ought to feel good plugging him into the lineup on just about any given day. And, with the advent of the National League designated hitter, Ruf figures to get more opportunities than in the past.
It’s a highly affordable deal for the Giants — one reflective of Ruf’s atypical career arc. Ruf didn’t see his first prolonged MLB action until his age-26 season, back in 2013, and he didn’t even reach arbitration eligibility until last year — his age-34 campaign. Ruf is already 35 and will turn 36 by late July, meaning he wouldn’t have accrued the necessary six years of service time to reach free agency until after he’d already turned 37. He earned a few million overseas while slashing .313/.404/.564 across three seasons with the Samsung Lions, but given the late-blooming nature of his breakout, it’s not a surprise to see him giving up a free-agent year at a relatively modest rate. This new two-year deal effectively doubles Ruf’s career earnings, which surely makes it a particularly satisfying deal to sign at 35 years of age.
Solid deal
Great move by the Giants. Zaidi is a genius.
CheapAsss Zaidi loses Posey , Bryant and Solano bats and replaced them all with Joc Pederson . The infamous platoon guy who can’t hit LHP’s . Now he resigns Ruf .lol
This group will be lucky to play .500 baseball this season
you do realize that ruf’s numbers basically reflect a right handed max muncy.
Don’t mind Tony. He has Tourette’s. Long time sufferer.
the Padres wish they could play .500 ball
Only two years though – that’s Ruf.
You. Yup, you.
You get to go home early. Good work.
Darin Ruf had a nice resurgence last season. I like this deal. I’ll always remember Ruf as Ryan Howard’s replacement. It didn’t work out in Philly, but he’s found a nice role for himself.
2020 too. He has a .900 OPS over his 400 plus PAs since his return from Korea. A tremendous value.
All he has ever done since putting on the Giants uniform is mash. I love this guy
Fact that he’s what going to be 35 and still in Arbitration is kinda absurd tho right?
No.
Yes, but he played in Korea
The three years he spent in the KBO is why he is still arbitration eligible. He didn’t accrue MLB service time while playing in Korea. Age has nothing to do with anything
I know why, but you’re kind of making my case for why the service time system is kinda stupid.
Maybe. But even as an arbitration eligible player in his middle 30’s he’s still making more money than most of us.
Also after seeing what the players in Mexico get- your puigs and reddicks are pulling home like 50-60k and it really puts the pay into perspective
Who cares if he makes more money than most of us? He does something none of us can do. Why shouldn’t he get paid more? Why would I not want him and other mlb players to get the maximum salary they possibly can when their bosses are collectively some of the richest people on the planet?
I dunno. I would have gone with the 2.6M estimate based on his age. I know 400k doesn’t sound like much, but I’m sure Zaidi could have found use for it. Maybe towards another minor league signing. Love Ruf though and hope he proves me wrong.
The giants don’t run the organization like that. They aren’t the Rays. The “extra” 400,000 means nothing
Happy for Darin and glad he is staying. I call him Ruf n Ready!
knew this signing was coming and glad it finally did, he’s a team guy, a late bloomer who gives the Giants a lot of lineup flexibility where they need it.
Giants continue to impress
Very happy for him. He worked hard to earn it.
This. Congratulations Darin. Good work, Giants.
Did not realize how effective the dude has been as a Giant.
The way arbitration/free agency works in baseball really screws guys like this.
Not only has Ruf produced the last few years but he’s also an outstanding member of the community in SF. Very happy he’s secured a good contract late in his career and for the Giants holding onto a solid underrated player.
Very true. Although professional athletes are ultimately paid to perform, you can’t deny the value they (should) have as people. Everyone wants a team full of superstars and overachieving/underpaid pre-arb eligible players, but there’s more to a team and hopefully a fan base than those things. I believe Giants fans generally have always had a good grasp on this. I hope others have the same feeling about their own teams.
After taxes and agent fee he will probably take around 2.8 million
Not bad for 2 years of work. If lives modest and invests wisely you could live off the interest.
I really hope he gets another contract . Easy to root for a guy that keeps fighting for a job.
I like it!! Great bat, great teammate. Nice to know we’re gonna keep him around for a few years!
Ok I’ll be the devils advocate here and predict that he’ll be DFA’d before the contracts up. I just have a feeling he’s in for a giant regression this season. Even so, it’s not a big contract, so it should have no effect on their overall payroll. Small risk vs giant reward. NPI
nothing in his past 6 years of performance (he flirted with MVP in Korean league) suggests a sudden regression, so is just a hunch based on age? And his OPS+ last two MLB years has been 143. But yeah, small risk big reward for sure.
Good for him. Life changing money.
I just realized I’ve somehow been mispronouncing his name all this time. For some reason I thought it was ROOF, not RUFF. Well better late than never, much like this contract.
Love this deal. I still think the Giants need one more RH bat to solidify the lineup but still a pretty good offseason
As a dodger fan I’ve always been surprised that he doesn’t have more suitors. Really solid signing for basically peanuts
He wasn’t a free agent
I didn’t mean this second, I mean in general. Even before he went to kbo it seemed like he was a way better player than the interest showed
@semut I think it’s his lack of true defensive position l, but the bat has always been there
Farhan is so good, he actually has me believing free agents might not really be a big deal.
He said 29 of 30 teams are losers on every free agent. But that isn’t the case with finds like Ruf.
Also Ruf is arguably a Kapler find because he had him in Philly. But love me some Farhan! Keep Calm and Farhan!
@SFBay314,
Darin Rug’s final season with the Phillies was 2016. His manager in 2016 was Pete Mackanin, who was also the Phillies manager in 2017. Gabe Kapler’s first season as Phillies manager was 2018.
So, while you’re correct about Ruf being a Farhan Zaidi find, there was no prior Ruf/Kapler relationship in Philadelphia.
IFZIT-In FZ I Trust
Love having Darin back for at least two more years,
He is also a good hitter against right handed pitching. He is not only a pulling bat hitter. good at opposite field swinging. Good pick for Giants.
Luv the deal. Farhan has been amazing, however, I think not trying to keep K. Bryant was a mistake. For whatever reason the Giants had no plans of retaining him. KB & Posey were the only two that hit in the postseason (when it counted) & now we’ll have neither. I believe KB puts up monster #s for at least 6 years, & we could’ve locked him up long term.
Rockies will regret the Bryant contract. 182m. Hard pass. He’s been declining for years.
Bryant’s best years are behind him.. I have no doubt the Rockies will be looking to offload him in two or three years.