The Dodgers are trading outfielder Esteury Ruiz to the Marlins for minor league pitcher Adriano Marrero, reports Francys Romero. Miami reportedly plans to designate first baseman Eric Wagaman for assignment in a corresponding move. This drops L.A.’s roster count to 39.
Ruiz is best known for stealing an AL-leading 67 bases as a member of the Athletics in 2023. That’s the only season in which he has appeared in even 30 games at the big league level. Ruiz batted .254/.309/.345 with five home runs in 497 trips to the plate. He only walked at a 4% clip and, despite showing his plus speed on the bases, graded poorly as a center fielder.
It clearly wasn’t what the A’s had in mind when they chose Ruiz over William Contreras as the centerpiece of their return in the three-team Sean Murphy trade the previous offseason. He spent most of the ’24 season in Triple-A and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee at year’s end. The A’s cut bait this past April, designating Ruiz for assignment and trading him to Los Angeles.
The 26-year-old has only taken 88 trips to the dish at the MLB level over the past two seasons. He’s coming off a big year in Triple-A, where he hit .303/.411/.514 while going 62-73 in stolen base tries. Ruiz has shown a more patient plate approach against minor league pitching than he did during his big league run a few seasons back.
Miami preferred Ruiz to Dane Myers, another righty-hitting backup outfielder whom the Marlins traded to Cincinnati last week. Myers is a superior defensive option in center but doesn’t have Ruiz’s upside as a base stealer. Ruiz is three years younger and has better career Triple-A numbers, as he owns a .315/.418/.505 line with an 18% strikeout rate at the top minor league level. Myers has fanned in 23% of his Triple-A plate appearances and owns a .295/.380/.440 mark in 98 games. Ruiz has played in more hitter-friendly settings, but the youth and superior contact skills make him a more intriguing depth piece. Both players are entering their final minor league option year.
The Dodgers making a roster-clearing move will fuel speculation as to whether they have anything imminently planned on the free agent or trade front. To this point, there hasn’t been any indication that Los Angeles has any kind of pending move lined up. DFA limbo is frozen between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so this presumably isn’t a move to accommodate a waiver claim.
Whether they have any follow-up moves on the horizon, the Dodgers add a lottery ticket arm to the farm system. Marrero is an 18-year-old righty out of Cuba. He pitched this year in the Dominican Summer League. Marrero wasn’t ranked among Miami’s top 30 prospects but signed for a decent $350K bonus. In September, Baseball America’s Ben Badler credited the 6’3″ hurler with a three-pitch mix (low-90s sinker, sweeper, and changeup) that gets promising lateral movement. BA ranked Marrero among the 20 most intriguing pitching prospects in this year’s amateur signing class.
Opening up that 40 man spot for Kyle Tucker….
Bichette
I’d be surprised if it was for either of them.
Happens
Max Kepler as the conforto replacement
Lol
If I see tucker.
Premeditated roster space ftw
Or Bellinger.
God no…
MIL still happy with William Contreras.
smart move get rid a AAA player in Ruiz who cannot manage hitting in MLB for a 18y strong thrower with possibilities.
now if they use that 40man roster for Tucker….just skip regular season and put them in world series again.
I am shocked that Ruiz was actually deemed worthy of a prospect at all. I figured he would simply be DFA fodder.
Dodgers had him at AAA hitting great. Good time to trade him selling high, and getting a pitcher they can either use or trade later. All the while freeing up a roster spot.
You get more for your bottom 40 guys when the other team doesn’t know you need to clear a roster space within a certain time frame.
I think the Marlins are probably clever enough to figure out that the Dodgers needed a roster space. It’s not a big surprise that the Dodgers were not going to go into the 2026 season with the current 40 man roster.
Hiflew,
No doubt everyone knows that will be adding someone. But I find it interesting how many teams sign someone and have to follow up with a trade or release shortly after.
Even if it’s only a slightly better return, is worth being proactive for that small edge. If you do that in everything you do as an organization, it makes a difference.
No idea if this is a good trade or not. Time will tell.
Reminds me of the Michael Busch trade
So happy Michael Busch is doing well
in that its a massive W for the Dodgers? They get to free up a spot AND get the better return back?
Trade is nothing like Busch trade. Very minor trade when we’re talking about Ruiz.
Until Ferris or Hope actually do something at the MLB level or get traded for someone who actually does something at the MLB level it definitely is not a W for the Dodgers. He has a 133 OPS+ as a Cub.
Aaronharper must be jesting, the trade cleared space for Freddie Freeman and brought back two top 100 (both ranked 40-60) prospects. A win win trade if ever was.
Freeman and Ohtani, that is. No room for Busch. Those are the kind of problems the poor Dodgers have.
did you mean Teoscar? Freeman had already been a Dodger for a couple seasons.
Ruiz was a DFA candidate. Busch got legit prospects. This rookie ball pitcher could be one day but it’s a scratch off ticket.
I liked Ruiz, which is a weird thing to say. His speed and defense were pretty valuable, and actually hit pretty well in Triple A. Glad we got a young starter for him though. Seems to be a solid return
You’d have to be a scout to have any idea what Marrero is worth. He’s all of 18 years old with a handful of innings in the Dominican Summer League under his slender belt. Everybody’s a starter at that level. This was a roster-clearing move. Other cleate to drop in 3…2…
Ruiz is a poor fielder.
This add potentially makes the Marlins a very dangerous offense, he can slot in for full-time at bats with Pauley at 3B and either Stowers or Conine at 1B.
Ruiz can hit and he could lead the league in stolen bases.
Teams in the NL East have to be looking at the Marlins as serious contenders in ’26. I like their team more than the Mets and the Braves.
Yeah, an AAAA player who hasn’t hit at the MLB level in years will really put a scare in the Phillies
@fred-3 relax Philly fan, the comment is obviously satirical
Career .720 OPS vs lefties. Decent speed and defense. Marlins have done a pretty good job at getting the most out of guys like this the past 2 years. For a lotto ticket DSL guy? I’ll take it.
Bet $100 the Braves have a better record than the Marlins in 2026
Risky
I can’t believe you bothered to type that. Silly.
I’m seeing lots of posts about the Dodgers going to LA, it’s likely gotten mroe likely yes. But Toronto is still my best for Tucker because they are willing to match the length and money from what I’ve heard.
Pretty safe bet Dodgers are going to LA
I meant Tucker going to LA. Thanks for pointing out my typo
🙂
Definitely mroe likely.
The only guy on the Dodgers roster…that Stinks!
Roster spot for Kiké
Kike likely won’t be ready for the start of the season.
Dude has blazing speed. Would be a ton of fun to watch if he could just hit a bit.
Or catch
Looks like Bellinger back to the Dodgers.
The Remoras get their meal!
I hate to see these speedsters like Ruiz struggle just to put the ball in play. So much fun to watch them run out little dribblers on the infield.
Why name your kid after a saltwater creek ?
A spanish homage to John Wetteland?
Plenty of estuaries in FL.. what’s one more?
Noooooo, there goes LA’s World Series hopes.
He’ll be the rookie closer for the playoffs this year now that Sasaki has graduated to starter.
I came here to see the Goldschmidt to Mets signing.
TWSN sports.
Clearing space for Tucker and Bichette!!