The Giants announced that they have selected infielder/outfielder Darin Ruf to their roster. Right-hander Sean Hjelle was optioned to open a spot on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster due to designating catcher Austin Wynns for assignment earlier this week.
This move completes a strange boomerang trip to New York and back for Ruf over the past nine months. He had been with the Giants since the start of the 2020 season but was flipped to the Mets at last year’s deadline. Unfortunately, he struggled badly after the move and didn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster out of spring this year. He was released and returned to the Giants on a minor league deal, now retaking a spot on the roster.
Prior to that sojourn out east, Ruf played very well for the Giants, particularly as a lefty-mashing righty. Over 2020 and 2021, he hit 21 home runs in 412 plate appearances and walked at a 14.3% rate. That led to a batting line of .272/.381/.519 and 142 wRC+. Against lefties, his line was even stronger at .275/.390/.579. Based on that performance, the Giants signed him to a two-year, $6.25MM deal going into 2022.
Last year, he dipped a bit but was still hitting .216/.328/.373 for a wRC+ of 104 at the time of the trade. But that swooned all the way to .152/.216/.197 after the deal. The Mets fortified their right-handed offense by adding Tommy Pham over the winter and cut Ruf after his struggles continued into the spring.
Now Ruf will have a chance to get back on track in a familiar environment. If it works out, it will be nice icing on the cake for the Giants, adding an extra sweet layer to a deal that already looks like a huge win for them. They got J.D. Davis and left-hander Thomas Szapucki, as well as prospects Nick Zwack and Carson Seymour in that deal. Davis is still under club control through 2024 and the others much longer. The Mets took on the remainder of Ruf’s deal and are still on the hook for it since he cleared waivers. The Giants can pay him the prorated league minimum for any time Ruf spends on the roster, which will be subtracted from what the Mets pay.
Good luck Darin!
A Ruf signing for the Giants, definitely makes up for not signing Arson Judge and Taint Correa though.
Enjoy Hurtlos Rodon.
Get back under your bridge.
@gfan- you sound as salty as always. Somethings never change. Enjoy no playoffs this year.
Your right about something’s never changing. Your tired attempts at humor and the shameless upvotes on your own posts. Enjoy the crapload of bad long term contracts that will far outlast any Giant playoff drought.
@gfan- Enjoy rooting for a team that nobody wants to play for. Sounds exciting! At least you have the best announcers in the game, too bad they can’t play.
Looks like Kershaw has some big apple problems!!!
Things are about to get A Little Ruf !
Your scoring in a bind?
Add a little Ruffage.
Ruf! I rove this signing Rorge. Ruf Ruf! Hey- ball!!!
As a Met fan that trade to this day is still a head scratcher. I remember when it happened and I said to myself “ a deal made just to say they made a deal”. Even Davis for Ruf straight up would have been a bad deal forget about multiple players for him regardless of what Ruf was doing against lefties.
JD Davis was doing nothing in NY and apparently needed a change. Reminds me of when Boston shipped Shaw to Milwaukee with three others. Who knew he hit 30 homers? Sometimes trades just don’t work out. Ruf’s past suggested he be a perfect platoon in NY. It just didn’t work out. Move on.
Ruf for Davis, 3 prospects, and now Ruf!
Still probably the best trade the Mets made in years.
Well that was fast! What a trade by the Giants. They get JD Davis & 3 young prospects from the Mets for Ruf. Ruf is now back with SF, with the Mets paying his full salary less the league minimum. What a coup!
@Dorothy_Mantooth Defines “hilarious.”
And JD Davis is now leading the Giants in HR and RBI while by some accounts, miracle of miracles, playing an above average 3B—as their CLEANUP HITTER.
As for Nick Zwack and Carson Seymour? Two live AA starters. Eppler’s an idjit, and will always be an idjit. He and Cohen deserve each other.
I imagine that Steve Cohen won’t let the Mets trade with the Giants again based on principle. Absolutely fleeced on that trade haha.
Better not trade with Chicago Cleveland Pittsburgh Seattle either. Probably more. Maybe not trade with anyone.
Seattle? They got Diaz out of that and Cohen doesn’t care about money so taking on Cano’s salary didn’t hinder them from doing anything.
If $ doesn’t matter then the Mets can’t make a bad trade. Buy whatever you need.
I could buy more wins with the Cano $ than Diaz provided. They are lucky he got busted and saved a year. Kelenic might end up being something that will cost a lot of $.
You’re really stretching if you think Kelenic is going to make the Mets regret anything. Seattle got absolutely fleeced in that trade.
I don’t agree with this move.
I was happy they brought back Ruf on a minor league deal but he needed to prove again his swing was right.
How many slow right handed DH types do the Giants need?
I agree, but I still like him against Kershaw. Is he ready for major league pitching?
They face three lefties in a row and both Haniger and Slater are on the IL. When both of them come back and he’s still on the roster (unless he absolutely mashes in this stint) then I’ll 100% agree with you
Doubled on Kershaw to drive in a run 1st atbat tonight
Let’s not forget, part of the trade is taking on Ruf’s guaranteed ($6.25MM) that the Mets are fully on the hook for, while the Giants pay him league minimum.
He’s going to have an OPS+ of 140 or greater against lefties this year, just watch.
It’s not 6.25 because of the luxury tax.. it probable closer to 11 mil
The $6.25M was for last and this year plus buying out the option for next year. I believe $3M – the prorated portion of the minimum ($710K?) will be factored against the Mets’ luxury tax at the end of the season. The Giants are welcome to exercise the option if he has a late career renaissance and they choose to do so, but the Mets are only on the hook for the $250K buyout. It’s before next season so it won’t count against the luxury tax.
Buyouts actually do apply to the luxury tax on the year they are buying out, but otherwise good breakdown
My dogs called this one!
How fkn stupid do the Mets look?
JD is even turning out to be an everyday player.
I hate the big market teams, they’ve destroyed the sport.
The big market teams carry the small market ones, fyi.
Only a large market apologist believes that.
Good thing for you Manfred is among them.
“Only a large market apologist believes that.”
It’s literally true. Unless you think teams like the Marlins, Pirates, and your Reds are the ones sustaining the sport? Learn your history, because big market teams are the whole reason MLB exists.
This attitude is what is killing the sport in flyover country. But hey, as long as you get yours, right? The hell with the future of the sport.
Potential young fans are not interested in a sport where only 8 of 30 yeams have a chance because of the revenue disparity and I dont blame them. Thats why sports with salary caps like the NFL and NBA are more popular with young people. Even pro soccer.
It will be interesting to see who goes bankrupt with such things as poor attendance and incidents like Bally not paying their bills.
Miami, a notably small market…
Salary caps are anti-labor. The billionnaire owners should spend more or sell the team to someone who will.
I like how large market fans think they know how to run a small market team.
Not that easy with the revenue disparity. Who wants a team where they can’t make a profit? Only about eight teams bring in the big cash. Cuban has commented on it often.
Billionaires don’t get those billions by losing money. Moreno found that out. Folks are not lining up to buy an MLB team anymore.
Big market teams are critical. They pay the bills. If they ever start operating like small market teams then small market teams are in trouble.
Small market teams are needed for their markets.
San Diego is a great inspiration to what cities of similar size with only 1 professional sports team can achieve.
I’m not sure the Forbes report showing in the red financials would be terribly inspiring to others. It’s cool to see in isolation, but I
don’t think it’s a fair flagship model for other owners.
YDGM, they will lose Soto and they had Trea Turner and traded him. Don’t be too quick to glorify the Pads. Still no titles.
Wasn’t glorifying them and they should spend $ elsewhere instead of extending Juan Soso.
Big market teams like…the San Diego Padres??
I agree that the Padres are considered a small market team, but I always found it odd that a team just outside a major market is considered a small market team. It’s two hours south of LA. I’m sure there are plenty of commuters between the two cities. Nevertheless, I can buy that one. The one that has never made any sense to me is how SF is a big market and Oakland is a small market. Yes, there are economic factors that can make that true, but they are literally in cities next door to each other!
Oakland is a small market because they have a small payroll. And for any doubters who thought they just had cheap ownership they made a movie showing how awful their situation is.
Miami Tampa the state of Arizona I wouldn’t think of as small markets. Attendance isn’t good in Florida though so that hurts. The key is how much their rsn was paying them. I see. Lots of guesses saying it wasn’t much but anything official? You know NY LA CHI etc are huge population cities. Can see on here how many fans these teams have. Don’t notice many Marlins Athletics fans.
There are already two teams in LA. San Diego has the 30th-largest TV market. It’s a small market and they have the third-largest payroll. So “small market” is a boring excuse.
As for Oakland, the Giants had a 10yr head start, and the other areas/markets that support two teams have double (Chicago), triple (LA), or quadruple (NYC) the population.
I might be wrong but I think the SF Giants can exercise Ruff’s option for 2024 and the NY Mets pay all but the league minimum. Again I might be wrong on that. I think that is what they did with Pablo Sandoval when he returned . the SF Giants picked his option and Boston paid most of the contract.
definitely wrong. Mets pay him this year and that’s it.
The Mets pay him the $250K buyout for next year. The Giants would pay the rest of the cost of exercising the option if they chose to do so, but it’s more likely he would resign for the minimum.
Mets desperately needed to get rid of Davis at the time. So they actually had to add in prospects to get the Giants to agree to the trade
They really didnt even want Ruf. Just Davis gone
Szapucki is all over the place. His career BB/9 at all levels is 4.1.
The other prospects are just organizational filler. The Mets didnt really give up much really
Sure maybe Szapucki gets it together, but probably not. It’s not irrepaceable
I mean sure, Szapucki is potentially an ok bullpen piece. And hes a lefty. But considering his major command problems, and the fact that you can find 4 or 5 similar pitchers with a good arm via waivers (which the Mets have already done), he’s expendable
The other two prospects are just pitchers who had good seasons at the time of the trade, and are just organizational minor league players
Zwack and Seymour are at AA and have a combined line of 8 IP, 1 R, 12K in their first two starts. Szapucki is on the 60-day DL with serious elbow injury.
Ebj, Seymour is terrible. Mechanics are terrible. Just look at the video. If he doesn’t blow out his elbow he’ll just walk tons of guys. If he ever does gain command, he’ll get rocked
He’s a AAA pitcher if he’s lucky. Highly unlikely he ever reaches the majors
I don’t even want to waste the time looking at video of Zwack but he was a 17th rd pick. Usually that doesn’t pan out
Why didn’t they dfa him and keep their prospects ?
Im sure they thought about it but they werent in a position where they could really DFA him. It would have caused too much controversy. He then would have latched on with any team. Maybe the Braves or Phillies
Im pretty sure he could refuse an assignment if DFA’ed. Waiving him would have been too shrewd a move
They wanted to at least get something for him. If they couldnt unload him maybe they might have waived him
It’s hard to justify waiving him since he does have some value
Cope and seethe.
Right. You sure your not overthinking this one ?
Well, the joke is on you. Sure, you stole my lunch money, but I wasn’t going to eat lunch anyway, so there!
What a beta.
Ruf was a super platoon player for the Giants but because of injuries to Wade, Yaz and Belt early last year ended up getting more ABs against righties than lefties. He didn’t do well and it affected his overall game. Mets obviously hoped he would be like the ’21 Ruf back as a platoon player and Zaidi made them pay a steep price for their losing gamble.
Sounds like the master plan of a superhero movie villain.
The only thing I cope and seethe about SidBream is all the casual fans who think the trade was an incredible fleecing of the Mets
Plus all the other novice opinions they have based on having no real idea what’s going on
Tell me what they lost. JD Davis? Szapucki? Novices don’t grasp that there are literally 10-15 pitchers a year on waivers better than Szapucki
But because Szapucki has the glorious prospect status they consider it an incredible loss
People need to understand how to project prospects properly and not overrate prospects so much
foopert, not at all…it’s a simple and easy assessment of the trade
It was a good trade for the Mets for the simple fact that they were able to get rid of Davis
People need to stop overrating prospects so much. In rare cases, like with Francisco Alvarez or Adley Rutshman, it is appropriate to get excited about a prospect, but most of the time they are not going to reach the upside
Thinking you’ve lost something great in Szapucki and a couple of AA pitchers is madness
@Camden453 I understand you. Just because the Mets traded away a younger better player and 3 prospects and are now paying Ruf to play for the Giants doesn’t mean it’s a bad trade. Unless those players become mvps or cy youngs it really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
They just wanted to get rid of Davis. The Giants didn’t want Davis either. The Mets had to add a decent prospect just so the Giants would take Davis
Yes, all of our knowledge is inferior to yours. I especially like how you excuse the awful trade by saying that releasing JD Davis would have been controversial, while then saying JD Davis isn’t a pretty solid player, all the while saying the Mets had to get rid of him. Your limited baseball knowledge is schizophrenic.
Yes, Alvarez and Adley are the same. Lol
Sid, there is always the one person (in this case me) who knows what’s going on, and then the hordes of novices who dont really grasp what’s happening who pile on and assault that one person because of the “strange” and “unusual” comments
As one mob they band up together and come to a consensus that the one and only guy who does know what’s going on doesn’t know what he’s talking about
Most people here don’t know what’s going on, generally. They have very beginner knowledge
Giants are stuck with Davis now lol. They value prospects more than NY. Even ones who will never make it to the mlb. That’s the reason they have Davis. So they can’t trade him. And if they dfa him San Diego will try to sign him because they try to sign everyone.
Yourdream, have you actually watched Davis? If you did, you would realize why they want to move on from Davis
The Mets lost literally nothing significant in the Ruf trade
@Sd Bream Speed Demon They aren’t the same though. Alvarez is clearly better!
@Camden453 I am a mix of analytics and scouting person so I have seen him but not a ton. I follow 5 teams closely and the Mets aren’t one of them. I personally liked his bat and wouldn’t have made that trade. But I wasn’t surprised at all when the Mets traded him. They obviously didn’t think much of him.
Oh, much better. His .116OBP proves that easily, and in no way will Alvarez eat his way out of the league.
Duh! They wanted rid of the garbage prospects as well!
garbage prospects?
Sarcasm Claude.
Yourdream, yes absolutely, that too. They wanted Zwack and Seymour out of the system, or they didn’t care when then Giants asked for those two prospects
Zwack and Seymour will NEVER see the majors. They’re just organizational minor league players
I bet there isn’t a dry window in your mom’s basement. Do you even read your own comments? The “had” to get rid of Davis, they wanted Zwack and Seymour out of the system. You are coping so hard I’m afraid you’re going to pull something.
Sid I can guarantee you that if you spoke to GMs, scouts around the league, or spoke directly to Mets scouts/GM, they’d agree with what I’m saying
It was a minor trade involving fringe players. The Mets wanted to get rid of Davis and the Giants wanted a decent prospect
Neither team gained much or lost anything
I’m not sure it was desperation. They felt the change of scenery would be good for him but what was really the headscratcher to me at the time of the trade was the prize for the package. I thought that package would’ve netted Wilmer. The Giants were still on the fringes of the wildcard race at the time, but they were still considered sellers. Wilmer was on an expiring contract and could have returned to a fan base that loved him while playing a big part in the playoff push.
phenomenalajs, I’m sure that Mets’ fans love Wilmer, but so do Giants’ fans (well at least this one). And apparently, so does Farhan. It’s plausible the Mets asked for Wilmer, and were turned down.
@Camden453 The Mets needed to ‘desperately’ get rid of JDD, who immediately, IMMEDIATELY went to SF, had a 5 game hitting streak and a 140 OPS+ for the rest of the year?
Better to say, the Mets desperately needed a hitting coach who could figure out why Davis wasn’t hammering the ball the way he had in 2020-2022 when he was among the better hitting 3Bmen in the league.
What a great story. Good luck, Darin.
Darin Ruf the gift that keeps on giving Lol
And his first AB with the Giants is a long double. Wow!
And his first AB back with the Giants is a long double. Wow!
For years I sat back laughing at novices who thought Kevin Plawecki was destined for superstardom
Now once again I dare insult prospect god Szapucki by saying the Mets didn’t lose anything
The Giants sure have a slew of station to station retread hitters. I figured Farhan would have things rolling along up there by now. It’s ugly.
Ruf is really not that bad, as long as he gets regular ABs. He works counts, ok plate discipline, has power
It didn’t work out with the Mets, but it was obvious it wouldn’t. No player is going to hit playing once a week vs lefties
“No player is going to hit playing once a week vs lefties”
Um, Ruf did precisely that for two seasons prior to 2022.
Then I dare to say Vientos is a terrible prospect that they wasted a 2nd rd pick on. At best you would use a 5th round pick on him
He can’t play defense adequately at any position and he’s a typical high-k, low babip AAA guy
But I dare to insult the latest prospect novices think will hit 30 HR
Great they got Davis for free!