The A’s optioned several names to Triple-A Las Vegas last night, including outfielder Esteury Ruiz, rotation hopeful J.T. Ginn, infielder Darell Hernaiz, and righties Elvis Alvarado and Grant Holman. Infielder Alejo Lopez and lefty Matt Krook, both former big leaguers in camp on non-roster deals, were also reassigned to minor league camp. All of those cuts were announced by the team.
Ruiz, 26, was the Athletics’ primary center fielder in 2023 and swiped a gaudy 67 bases that season but did so while batting only .254/.309/.345 in 132 games (497 plate appearances). Though he was one of several key players acquired in the Athletics’ slate of rebuild-focused trades — regrettably coming over in a three-way deal that sent star catcher William Contreras, whom the A’s could’ve kept, to the Brewers — Ruiz has fallen a ways down the team’s depth chart since that original acquisition.
Injury played a role in his drop down the pecking order, as he missed the bulk of the 2024 campaign with a wrist strain. Ruiz logged 29 games and 65 plate appearances in the majors and delivered only a feeble .200/.270/.382 output at the plate. He hit .345/.425/.596 in 73 minor league plate appearances last year, but he’s long had eye-catching numbers in the upper minors that haven’t carried over to MLB, where he’s a .243/.297/.343 hitter in 598 plate appearances. Ruiz didn’t do himself any favors this spring, hitting .121/.171/.152 in 35 trips to the plate during Cactus League play.
The A’s locked Lawrence Butler up on a long-term extension and saw JJ Bleday turn in a breakout performance at the plate last season. That leaves two of their three outfield spots spoken for in the long-term. Bleday is miscast as a center fielder, so perhaps there’s room for Ruiz to work his way back into that role, but prospects like Colby Thomas, Denzel Clarke and Henry Bolte are all on the cusp of MLB readiness as well. At least for the early stages of the 2025 campaign, it looks like the A’s will go with a left field platoon of Seth Brown and Miguel Andujar.
In the rotation, Ginn heads back to Triple-A on the heels of a tough spring. The righty’s final outing was excellent — four innings of one-run ball with seven punchouts — but he still served up 13 runs (11 earned) in 13 innings while walking 12.5% of his opponents. The 25-year-old is a former second-round pick whom the A’s acquired in the trade sending Chris Bassitt to the Mets. He was hit relatively hard between Double-A and Triple-A last year but turned in a decent blend of strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates (21.2%, 8.8% and 54.1%, respectively). He held his own with a 4.24 ERA in his first 34 MLB frames last summer as well.
With Ginn being sent out, it increasingly appears as though the Athletics’ season-opening rotation will include Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, JP Sears, Osvaldo Bido and Mitch Spence. A late injury could always change that, and the A’s still have one possible rotation alternative in camp in the form of Joey Estes, who’s had a decent Cactus League run this spring.
Hernaiz, acquired in the trade of Cole Irvin to Baltimore, became a long shot for the roster after the A’s signed both Gio Urshela and Luis Urias to major league contracts this winter. Jacob Wilson and Zack Gelof are lined up in the middle infield, while Urias and Urshela can handle third base and move around to multiple infield positions. Hernaiz hit well in Triple-A last year (.331/.376/.493) but mustered only a .192/.261/.242 line in his first 135 MLB plate appearances. His spring output wasn’t much more encouraging — .194/.302/.306 in 43 plate appearances — so he’ll had back to the minors for more work.
Players refused to leave anything valuable in the clubhouse with a KROOK using it.
Someone please take Ruiz off their hands and let him play. I’d honestly like him on the Yanks as we could use another outfielder.
Yankees fans would eat him alive after a week’s worth of him swinging at sliders down and away…
I wouldn’t start him, but I think I’d like him as out fourth over Grisham.
His defensive metrics miiight make you say otherwise.
Tigers are down two good centerfielders. Ruiz would perform well in Comerica Park. The best farm in baseball could afford a low level prospect for Ruiz.
@FLotG
I’ve watched a lot of Oakland A’s games over the last several years. I would take Ryan Kreidler or Jahmai Jones and certainly Wenceel Perez over E Ruiz. He has tremendous speed on the base pads, but isn’t even a good defensive outfielder. And he really cannot hit.
That speed on the base paths would play,even just as a backup and pinch runner. Kreidler is terrible offensively and offers nothing. I agree that Jones could be interesting. Always liked him when he was with the Angels.
The Tigers could use a fill in for CF with Meadows out. Greene is just going to get hurt if he plays there and Perez is more suited for a corner. It would be nice to have a stolen base threat like him on the team…if he could get in base or even pinch run late.
Contreras was never with the Oakland A’s. He was a Brave.
Yea we all know that
The writer of the article apparently does not
@BBT
The writer says that the Oakland A’s could have kept him in the trade, not that they ever had him. The A’s chose the wrong guy.
The Braves were (obviously) willing to give up Contreras to get Sean Murphy. The A’s could’ve built the deal around that but instead brought the Brewers in to make it a three-team deal netting Ruiz.
Hindsight is 20/20, but the As already had their chosen catcher of the future in Langeliers. They probably didn’t have interest in Contreras.
Langeliers, Who they acquired from the Braves in the Matt Olson deal. He’s all right, but he’s not as good as Contreras
I’m really rooting for Ruiz but the kid can’t take a pitch to save his life. You want to reach into the tv and shake the dude “STOP SWINGING AT BAD PITCHES! You’re so talented!”
Like game shows, baseball on TV is easier.
The athletics optioning players to las Vegas is kinda hilarious
I think it will be more fun when they actually move there. Someone could pull a muscle warming up, and you could have his replacement in the lineup before the game even starts.